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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


i 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


BY 

t/ 


SING  GING  SU,  M.  A.,  Ph.  D. 


INTERNATIONAL  PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CITY 
1922 


Copyright,  1922 
by 

Sing  Ging  Su 
New  York 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 
by  the  International  Press 
New  York 


TO 

MY  FRIENDS 

EDWIN  C.  JONES 

AND 


ROBERT  T.  JONES 


ERRATA 


Page  13,  line  18,  instead  of  Fu-shi  read  Fu-hsi. 

Page  14,  footnote  5,  line  2,  instead  of  2875  read  2852. 

Pane  19,  footnote  22,  read  Sociology  and  Modern  Social  Prob- 
lems. 

Page  22,  footnote  30,  line  3,  instead  of  Tu-Tsing  read  Ta-Tsing. 

Page  102,  line  38,  instead  of  Mayer  read  Mayers. 

Page  103,  line  28,  read  Sociology  and  Modern  Social  Problems. 

Page  104,  line  8,  instead  of  Girand,  Tenlon  read  Girand-Teulon. 

Page  110,  column  2,  line  23,  instead  of  low  read  law. 

Page  111,  column  1,  line  8,  instead  of  proibiting  read  prohibit- 
ing; line  29,  instead  of  Tahsing  read  Ta-Tsing;  line  43, 
instead  of  autority  read  authority. 


V 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 

The  History  of  the  Chinese  Family  System 

Introduction  .....  11 


Chapter 

I 

The  Chinese  Family  System  in  the  Making 

13 

Chapter 

II 

The  Ancient  Chinese  Family  System 

26 

Chapter 

III 

The  Ancient  Chinese  Family  System — 

continued  ..... 

# 

35 

PART  II 

The 

Chinese  Family  System  of  Today 

Chapter 

IV 

The  General  Structure  of  the  Chinese 
Family  of  Today  .... 

47 

Chapter 

V 

Chinese  Marriage  .... 

54 

Chapter 

VI 

The  Relation  of  Husband  and  Wife 
Divorce 

65 

Chapter 

VII 

The  Relationship  Between  Parents  and 
Children  . ..... 

75 

I.  Parental  Power 

II.  The  Position  of  the  Child 

Chapter 

VIII 

Ancestor  Worship  .... 

84 

Chapter 

IX 

The  “Greater  Family” 

88 

Chapter 

X 

Conclusion:  Evaluation  of  the  Chinese 

Family  System  .... 

92 

Bibliography 

• • • • 

99 

PART  I. 


The  History  of  the  Chinese 
Family  System 


Introduction 


China  is  changing.  In  a metamorphosis  that  bids  fair  to 
be  universal,  the  family,  that  ancient  and  hitherto  unalterable 
basis  of  Chinese  society,  is  undergoing  marked  transforma- 
tion. Part  of  the  change  is  the  more  or  less  mechanical 
resultant  of  the  combined  action  of  a great  number  of  imper- 
sonal and  unperceived  forces;  a greater  part  is  the  result  of 
conscious  readjustments  and  rational  social  control. 

For  many  hundreds  of  years  the  Chinese  family  system 
worked  satisfactorily  among  millions  of  people.  Now  the 
machinery  does  not  seem  to  run  as  smoothly  as  it  did  a cen- 
tury ago,  and  in  recent  years  there  has  been  considerable 
agitation  in  China  for  reform. 

The  transformation  of  a basic  social  institution  is  fraught 
with  far-reaching  and  often  dangerous  consequences.  Never 
before  has  there  been  greater  need  of  a clear-sighted  view  of 
the  Chinese  family  system.  The  object  of  this  study  is  to 
describe  with  scientific  accuracy,  clearness,  and  simplicity  the 
nature  and  functioning  of  the  Chinese  family  system,  past 
and  present.  It  is  not  an  exhaustive  study.  It  aims  to  em- 
body only  enough  of  the  more  important  facts  to  constitute  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  Chinese  family  system  as  a whole. 
Throughout  the  thesis,  precedence  is  given  to  facts  and  pro- 
cesses rather  than  to  theories  and  hypotheses.  Equal  emphasis 
is  placed  upon  the  bad  and  the  good  features  of  the  Chinese 
family  system,  for  both  its  successes  and  failures  are  of 
value,  either  as  examples  to  be  copied  or  as  mistakes  to  be 
avoided.  Above  all  else  the  author  seeks  to  furnish  reliable 
data  which  will  help  solve  the  problem  of  family  reform  in 
China  and  serve  as  a scientific  background  for  practical  poli- 
cies of  control. 

The  present  is  clearly  discernible  only  in  the  light  of  the 
past.  Any  worth-while  judgment  of  an  existing  social  insti- 
tution presupposes  knowledge  of  its  origin  and  evolution. 

11 


12 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


Pursuant  to  this  view  the  first  three  chapters  of  this  study 
deal  with  the  salient  features  of  the  ancient  Chinese  family, 
its  origin  and  development.  The  main  body  of  the  mono- 
graph is  devoted  to  a scientific  description  of  the  Chinese 
family  of  today.  The  concluding  chapter  is  an  attempt  to 
evaluate  the  Chinese  family  system  upon  the  basis  of  the 
facts  presented  in  the  previous  chapters.  This  evaluation  is 
a matter  of  individual  judgment.  Its  validity  must  be 
attested  by  the  reliability  of  the  data  upon  which  it  is  based 
and  the  correctness  of  the  inferences  therefrom. 

Materials  presented  in  the  following  pages  are  drawn  from 
a great  variety  of  sources.  The  chief  primary  sources1  are: 
(1)  Chinese  ancient  history;  (2)  ancient  poems  and  folk- 
songs; (3)  ancient  laws  and  customs  described  in  the  ancient 
classics  of  Chinese  Literature;  (4)  Chinese  laws  and  statutes 
of  different  dynasties;  (5)  the  present  civil  and  criminal 
codes  of  the  Republic  of  China;  (6)  personal  observations. 
Secondary  sources1  are  the  works  of  various  authors  on  differ- 
ent phases  of  this  subject  and  allied  subjects. 


1 See  bibliographical  appendix  to  this  monograph. 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Chinese  Family  System  in  the  Making 

‘‘Before  there  were  husbands  and  wives  there  must  have 
been  simply  people  living  upon  the  earth ; before  there  were 
fathers  and  sons  there  must  have  been  husbands  and  wives; 
before  there  were  brothers  and  sisters  there  must  have  been 
parents  and  children.  These  relations,  between  husband  and 
wife,  between  parent  and  child,  between  child  and  child,  are 
the  principal  family  relations.  From  them  one  extends  his 
relationship  to  other  members  of  the  family  unto  the  ninth 
class1  of  his  kindred  ’ \2  In  this  brief  description  of  its 
structural  aspect,  we  find  the  underlying  principle  of  the 
Chinese  family  system. 

What  was  the  origin  of  the  husband-wife  relationship  in 
China  ? 

The  ancient  Chinese,  like  the  ancients  of  most  other  races, 
believed  that  the  institution  of  marriage  was  first  established 
by  a legendary  ruler.3  According  to  ancient  Chinese  histor- 
ians and  writers,  the  institution  of  marriage  was  established 
by  Fu-shi,  first  of  the  three  legendary  Augusti,4  2852-2738 

1 These  members  are  all  the  consanguineous  relations  from  the 
great-great-grandparents  to  the  great-great-grandchildren  on  the 
father’s  side.  See  Shu  King  Choo  Soo  ( Book  of  History,  with  a 
commentary  and  exposition) , “Canon  of  Yaou.” 

2 Yen  Chih  Pan’s  Family  Instructions,  in  Chinese,  vol.  I,  chapter 
on  “Brotherhood.” 

Tt  was  believed  that  Swetaketu  first  formulated  the  rules  of 
marriage  for  ancient  India;  Kekrops  for  the  ancient  Greeks;  Njavvis 
and  Attjis  for  the  ancient  Laplanders;  while  the  ancient  Egyptians 
believed  that  they  were  indebted  to  Menes  for  the  institution  of 
marriage.  See  Westermarck,  History  of  Human  Marriage,  p.  8. 

* Chu  Shu  Ke  Keen  Tung  Tseen  ( Annals  of  the  Bamboo  Books), 
pt.  I,  chap.  I;  Yih  She  ( History  of  China  from  the  Earliest  Times 
Down  to  the  End  of  the  Tsin  Dynasty,  203  B.C.),  vol.  Ill,  leaves  1-3 
inclusive;  Peh  Huo  Tung  (A  Collection  of  Essays  on  Various  Social 
Institutions),  vol.  I,  chap.  I;  Loo  She  ( The  Great  History  [of  China) 

13 


14 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


B.  C.  They  tell  ns  that  before,  and  to  some  extent  during, 
the  time  of  Fu-hsi  there  existed  none  of  the  three  primary 
family  relationships.  The  sexual  life  of  human  beings  differed 
but  slightly  from  that  of  animals.  Children  knew  only  their 
mothers ; paternity  was  unrecognizable  in  the  maze  of 
promiscuity.4  According  to  Confucius’  version  of  this  period 
of  antiquity,  people  “in  winter  lived  in  caves  which  they  had 
excavated ; in  summer,  in  nests  which  they  had  framed.  They 
knew  not  yet  the  transforming  power  of  fire,  but  ate  the 
fruits  of  plants  and  trees  and  the  flesh  of  birds  and  beasts, 
drinking  their  blood  and  swallowing  also  their  hair  and 
feathers.  They  knew  not  yet  the  use  of  flax  and  silk,  but 
clothed  themselves  with  feathers  and  skins”.6  It  was  in  this 
primitive  stage  that  Fu-hsi  “examined  the  natural  orders  of 
heaven  and  earth  and  established  the  proper  relation  between 
husband  and  wife”.7 

Another  authority  asserts  that,  it  was  Nu-Wa,  the  Augusta 
succeeding  Fu-hsi,  who  used  divination  to  determine  whether 
a certain  man  and  woman  should  be  united  as  husband  and 
wife,  and  that  thereby  the  institution  of  marriage  was  estab- 
lished.8 

from  Antiquity  to  1766  B.  C.),  pt.  I;  Hirth,  Ancient  History  of  China. 
p 9;  and  Gowen,  Outline  History  of  China,  p.  25. 

6  Different  dates  are  given  by  the  following  writers:  Mayers  ( The 
Chinese  Reader's  Manual , p.  366),  2875-2738  B.  C.;  Giles  (A  Chinese 
Biographical  Dictionary , p.  233),  2953-2838  B.  C.;  Arendt  (“Synchro- 
nistische  Regententabellen,  etc.,”  in  Mittheilungen  des  Seminars  fiir 
Orientalische  Sprachen,  Jahrgang,  II,  1899,  p.  216),  2852-2738  B.  C. 
Professor  Friederich  Hirth  in  The  Ancient  History  of  China  follows 
the  last  named  work  for  his  chronological  data.  See  The  Ancient 
History  of  China,  p.  7.  Chronological  data  in  this  monograph  fol- 
low Professor  Hirth’s  work. 

6 Li  Ki  (or  Canon  of  Rites),  translation  by  James  Legge,  bk.  vii, 
secs.  1,  8.  Cf.  also  description  of  Fu-hsi:  “Before  his  time  the  people 
were  like  unto  beasts,  clothing  themselves  in  skins,  and  feeding 
themselves  on  raw  flesh,  knowing  their  mothers  but  not  their 
fathers.” — Mayers.  Chinese  Readers  Manual,  p.  48. 

7 See  footnote  4. 

8 Fong  Suh  Tung  ( Inquirer  Into  Manners  and  Customs),  chap- 
ter I. 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM  IN  THE  MAKING 


15 


We  find,  in  Chinese  literature  of  many  different  periods, 
no  other  noteworthy  accounts  of  the  origin  of  marriage  in 
China.  Although  the  opinion  long  prevailed  among  Chinese 
scholars  that  an  edict  of  Fu-hsi  established  the  institution  of 
marriage,  and  though  this  opinion  is  still  held  by  a few 
modern  Chinese  writers  on  the  subject,  it  is  quite  impossible 
for  us  to  accept  an  anthropomorphic  explanation  as  scientific. 
Important  social  institutions  like  human  marriage  are  not 
established  suddenly  and  arbitrarily  by  one  person.  They 
emerge  and  develop  in  an  infinite  process  of  gradual  evolu- 
tion. Westermarck  has  well  said  that  “popular  imagination 
prefers  the  clear  and  concrete;  it  does  not  recognize  any 
abstract  laws  that  rule  the  universe.  Nothing  exists  without 
a cause,  but  this  cause  is  sought  in  an  agglomeration  of 
external  and  internal  forces;  it  is  taken  to  be  simple  and 
palpable,  a personal  being,  a god  or  a king.  It  is  natural, 
then,  that  marriage,  which  plays  such  an  important  part  in 
the  life  of  the  individual,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  people, 
should  be  ascribed  to  a wise  and  powerful  ruler  or  to  direct 
divine  intervention  ’ \*  Whatever  its  evolutionary  antece- 

dents, it  is  quite  probable  that  marriage  was  an  established 
and  recognized  social  institution  in  China  as  early  as  the 
time  of  Fu-hsi,  2852-2738  B.  C. 

Many  facts  are  available  in  Chinese  literature  and  history 
for  the  study  of  the  primitive  Chinese  family  system  and 
for  a scientific  description  of  its  evolution  through  many 
ages  to  its  present  form.  We  are  reasonably  sure  that  from 
the  time  of  Fu-hsi,  to  the  days  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  2357-2206 
B.  C.,  there  existed  a metronymic  family  relationship.  Chil- 
dren knew  only  their  mothers.10  This  can  be  established  by 
historical  and  etymological  facts.  The  ancient  rulers,  Shen- 
Nung,  2737-2705  B.  C.,  third  and  last  of  the  three  Augusti 
after  Nu-Wa,  and  Hwang-ti,11  2704-2595  B.  C.,  first  of  the 

* History  of  Human  Marriage,  p.  9. 

10  See  footnote  4. 

11  The  Chinese  historian,  Sze-Ma  Tsien,  known  as  the  “Herodotus 


16 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


Wu-ti,  or  five  emperors  after  Shen-Nung,  were  both  de- 
scendants of  Shau-tien,  but  bear  different  surnames.  The 
surname  of  Shen-Nung  is  Kiang,12  while  that  of  Hwang-ti 
is  Ke.12  According  to  the  concurrent  explanation  of  various 
historians,  Hwang-ti ’s  surname  was  Ke  because  he  was  living 
with,  and  brought  up  by,  his  mother  near  the  river  called 
Ke  where  his  mother’s  family  dwelt.12  An  even  more  striking 
fact  is  that  there  is  a character  in  each  of  the  surnames  of 
these  ancient  rulers,  meaning  “female”  or  “woman.”  The 
same  thing  is  true  of  the  surname  of  Yaou,  fourth  of  the  “five 
emperors”  of  ancient  China.  Yaou’s  surname  is  Ye-chi, 
wdiich  is  his  mother’s  surname.12  Furthermore,  the  Chinese 
word  for  “surname”  is  composed  of  two  characters,  mean- 
ing, respectively,  “woman”  and  “born,”  or  “beget.” 
Chinese  etymologists,  commenting  on  these  facts,  explain 
that  the  surname  was  originally  the  mother’s  name  only.1* 

Another  significant  fact  may  be  mentioned  here.  In  the 
Annals  of  the  Bamboo  Books , containing  the  biographies  of 
ancient  rulers, — Hwang-ti,  Che,  Chuen-heuh,  Kuh,  Yaou,  and 
Shun, — parentage  was  recorded  not  in  the  name  of  the  father 
but  in  that  of  the  mother,  with  the  exception  of  the  Emperor 
Kuh,  in  which  case  the  name  of  neither  parent  was  given. 
We  find  in  the  Bamboo  Books  such  sentences  as  “His  mother 
was  named  so  and  so  ” or  “ His  mother  was  called  so  and  so,  ’ ’ 
and  in  not  a single  instance  is  the  name  of  the  father  men- 
tioned.14 

From  these  historical  and  etymological  facts  we  can  con- 

of  China/’  commenced  the  history  of  China  with  Hwang-ti.  His 
Historical  Records  were  written  90  B.  C.  from  materials  collected 
by  his  father.  A translation  into  French  has  recently  been  published 
by  M.  Chavannes.  (See  bibliographical  appendix  to  this  mono- 
graph.) 

12  Sze-Ma  Tsien,  Historical  Records . vol.  I,  bk.  I. 

13  History  of  Chinese  Customs,  pt.  I,  chap.  I,  sec.  6. 

u Chu  Shu  Ke  Neen  Tung  Tseen  ( Annals  of  the  Bamboo  Books) 
These  are  said  to  be  the  oldest  records  of  Chinese  history.  Cf.  His- 
torical Records . pt.  I,  bk.  I. 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM  IN  THE  MAKING 


17 


elude  with  practical  certainty  that  the  Chinese  family  system 
in  the  first  stage  of  its  development,  during  the  period  before, 
and  for  some  time  after,  the  dawn  of  Chinese  civilization, 
i.e.,  during  the  days  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  was  metronymic. 

What  were  the  causes  of  the  metronymic  family  system  in 
ancient  China  ? There  were  possibly  several  causes,1"  but 
the  available  data  warrant  the  unqualified  acceptance  of  only 
one.  This  was  the  erroneous  idea  of  the  nature  of  childbirth. 
The  ancient  Chinese  attributed  conception  to  the  influence  of 
supernatural  agencies  rather  than  to  a physiological  relation 
between  man  and  woman.  The  mothers  of  the  Wu-ti,  for 
instance,  attributed  their  pregnancies  to  the  effects  of  light- 
ning, stars,  dragons,  or  spirits.  Hwang-ti’s  mother  became 
pregnant  after  ‘‘she  had  witnessed  a great  flash  of  lightning, 
which  surrounded  the  star  ch’oo  of  the  Great  Bear  with  a 
brightness  that  lightened  all  the  country  about  her”;  and 
“after  twenty-five  months  she  gave  birth  to  the  emperor 
(Hwang-ti)  in  Show-k ’ew ”.16  Emperor  Che’s  mother  bore 
him  because  “she  beheld  a star  like  a rainbow”;  Emperor 
Chuen-heuh’s  mother  brought  him  forth  because  “she  saw 
the  Yaou-kwang  star”;  Yaou’s  mother  gave  birth  to  him 
because  “the  red  dragon  made  her  pregnant”;  Shun’s 
mother  conceived  and  bore  him  because  “she  saw  a large 
rainbow,  and  her  thoughts  were  deeply  affected  by  it”;  and 
the  Great  Yu’s  mother  gave  birth  to  him  because  “she  saw 
a falling  star,  which  went  through  the  constellation  Maou; 
and  in  a dream  her  thoughts  were  stirred  till  she  became 
pregnant,  after  which  she  swallowed  a spirit’s  pearl”.18 

15  Howard,  A History  of  Matrimonial  Institutions , vol.  I,  chap.  II, 
pp.  40-46;  58-60;  77,  et  seq;  and  chapter  III,  sec.  II,  “The  Problem 
of  Mother  Right,”  pp.  110-116;  cf.  also  Starcke,  The  Primitive  Fam- 
ily in  Its  Origin  and  Development,  pp.  10-25;  244-246;  283-4;  51  and 
52;  McLennan,  Studies  in  Ancient  History,  vol.  I,  chap.  8.  pp.  83-146. 
And  his  Patriarchal  Theory . chap.  XIII;  Morgan,  Ancient  Society. 
pp.  348-350,  et  seq.;  Spencer,  Principles  of  Sociology , vol.  I,  pp.  647, 
665  and  666,  et  seq.;  Westermarck,  op.  cit.  pp.  107-113;  Giddings, 
Principles  of  Sociology,  pp.  259,  et  seq. 

,a  Annals  of  the  Bamboo  Books , vols.  I and  II,  passim ; Historical 
Records,  pt.  I,  bk.  I.  Cf.  also  Hartland,  Primitive  Paternity,  the 


18 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


These  entries  read  like  fairy  tales  for  children,  but  they 
were  seriously  recorded,  carefully  preserved  and  formally 
handed  down  among  the  Chinese  for  generations.  They  re- 
flect clearly  the  primitive  idea  of  the  causation  of  childbirth. 

From  them  we  may  safely  infer  that  the  chief  cause,  if 
not  the  only  cause,  of  the  metronymic  family  system  in  ancient 
China  was  the  ignorance  of  the  physiological  connection  be- 
tween father  and  child.17  The  physiological  relation  between 
mother  and  child  was  self-evident.  That  the  child  was  of  the 
mother’s  blood  was  a natural  and  logical  deduction;  that  the 
father  played  no  part  in  reproduction  was  an  almost  un- 
avoidable fallacy.  Children,  therefore,  took  the  mother’s 
name,  and  genealogy  was  reckoned  on  the  maternal  side.1’ 

By  the  time  of  Yaou,  the  fourth  of  the  Wu-ti,  2357-2258 
B.  C.,  the  family  system  in  China  had  greatly  developed.  The 
authors  of  the  Shu-king  tell  us  that  “Yaou  was  able  to  pro- 
mote affection  and  love  among  the  nine  classes  of  relations”,1* 
and  all  lived  harmoniously  in  the  family  group.20 

The  family  of  this  period  was  unmistakably  patronymic. 
There  are  no  facts  available  in  Chinese  literature  or  history 

Myth  of  Supernatural  Birth  in  Relation  to  the  History  of  the  Family 
(Publications  of  the  Folk-Lore  Society,  LXV  and  LXVII)  partic- 
ularly vol.  I,  chapters  1,  2,  3 and  4. 

17  “Such  ignorance  is  by  no  means  so  incredible  as  at  the  first 
blush  it  may  appear.  It  is  of  a piece  with  the  ignorance  and  mis- 
conception relating  to  man’s  nature  and  environment  and  his  position 
in  the  universe,  prevalent  in  all  but  the  highest  culture.  Compre- 
hension of  the  process  of  birth,  as  of  all  other  natural  processes,  can 
only  be  attained  by  close,  patient  and  unprejudiced  observation. 
Observation  of  that  kind  was,  for  many  ages,  beyond  the  power  of 
mankind”;  et  seq.  Hartland,  op.  cit.f  vol.  II,  pp.  250-251. 

18  For  other  causes  of  the  metronymic  family  system  in  ancient 
China,  concerning  which  I have  not  been  able  to  find  sufficient 
trustworthy  data  for  scientific  generalization,  see  the  references 
given  in  the  footnote  15. 

13  Vide  note  1. 

20  Shu  King , pt.  I,  chap.  I,  sec.  2;  and  Mencius  ( Meng  Tsze ),  bk. 
Ill,  pt.  I,  chap.  IV,  secs.  1-4. 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM  IN  THE  MAKING 


19 


which  can  be  organized  into  an  accurate  and  complete  de- 
scription of  the  transition  from  the  metronymic  to  the 
patronymic  type  of  family.  Modern  writers  on  the  institu- 
tion of  the  family  explain  such  an  evolutionary  change  in 
terms  of  various  causes.11  Professor  Ellwood  summarizes 
them  in  four  chief  factors:  (1)  war;  (2)  wife  purchase;  (3) 
development  of  the  pastoral  stage  of  industry;  (4)  ancestor 
worship." 

War  may  have  been  one  cause  of  the  breakdown  of  the 
metronymic  system  in  ancient  China,  through  the  fact  that 
women,  being  the  physically  weaker  sex,  were  captured  in 
war,  held  as  slaves,  and  then  made  wives  or  concubines  by 
their  captors  ;'3  but  wife  purchase  as  a cause  seems  rather 
improbable.  Under  the  metronymic  system  in  China  women 
generally  occupied  the  higher  social  and  political  positions, 
and  wife  purchase  was  rather  unlikely.  If  there  ever  was 
any  wife  purchase  in  China,  in  my  own  judgment,  it  was  an 
effect  rather  than  a cause  of  the  breakdown  of  the  metronvmic 
system.  The  supposition  that  the  marriage  present  in  China 
is  “a  survival”14  of  the  price  paid  for  a wife,  is  without  the 
slightest  foundation  in  fact.  The  oldest  form  of  the  mar- 
riage present  was  the  skin  of  a deer  which  was  used  as  a 

-1  See  note  15. 

■-Sociology  and  Social  Problems,  pp.  83-85;  cf.  also  Spencer, 
Principles  of  Sociology.  1897  edition,  vol.  I,  chap.  IX,  “The  Family,” 
pp.  687-724;  and  Giddings,  Principles  of  Sociology,  pp.  285-290. 

31  Discussing  wife  capture  in  China,  Mr.  Jamieson  says,  “Of  the 
capture  of  wives  there  is.  as  far  as  I am  aware,  historically  no  trace, 
nor  is  the  form  to  be  found  among  any  of  the  ceremonies  of  mar- 
riage with  wrhich  I am  acquainted.”  China  Rev.,  vol.  X,  p.  95. 

*4  “In  China,  a present  is  given  by  the  father  of  the  suitor,  the 
amount  of  which  is  not  left  to  the  goodwill  of  the  parties,  as  the 
term  ‘present’  would  suggest,  but  is  exactly  stipulated  for  by  the 
negotiators  of  the  marriage;  hence,  as  Mr.  Jamieson  remarks,  it  is 
no  doubt  a survival  of  the  time  wrhen  the  transaction  was  one  of 
ordinary  bargain.”  {Tide  China  Rev.,  vol.  X,  p.  78.)  Westermarck, 
History  of  Human  Marriage , pp.  394-395.  Cf.  also  Mollendorff,  Das 
chinesische  Familienrecht,  pp.  21  and  23,  passim. 


4 


20  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 

token  of  betrothal."5  It  had  no  more  monetary  value  than 
the  college  diploma  made  of  sheepskin  has  today. 

Neither  can  the  development  of  the  pastoral  stage  of  indus- 
try be  assigned  as  a cause  of  the  transition  from  metronymic 
to  the  patronymic  system  in  China.  Careful  study  of  the 
industrial  life  of  the  primitive  Chinese  people  shows  clearly 
that  the  first  stage  was  pastoral  and  that  the  metronymic 
type  of  family  flourished  in  the  agricultural  stage  which 
followed. 

All  the  available  facts  and  all  valid  inferences  from  the 
facts  do  not  bear  out  the  contention  that  ancestor  worship 
contributed  to  the  breakdown  of  the  metronymic  system  in 
China.  Ancestor  worship  is  generally  the  worship  of  male 
ancestors.  It  is  extremely  doubtful  that  under  the  metrony- 
mic regime  male  ancestors  were  worshipped  in  China.  An- 
cestor worship,  as  a general  rule,  and  particularly  in  the 

a“(Fu-hsi,  2852-2738  B.  C.)  examined  the  natural  orders  of 
heaven  and  earth  and  established  the  proper  relation  between  hus- 
band and  wife,  and  commanded  that  the  skin  of  the  deer  be  used 
as  a token  of  betrothal.”  Yih  She  ( History  of  China  from  the 
Earliest  Times  Down  to  the  End  of  the  Tsin  Dynasty,  206  B.  C.), 
vol.  Ill,  leaves  1-3. 

During  the  period  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  2357-2206  B.  C.,  we  find  no 
trace  of  the  marriage  present.  In  its  place  we  find  the  large  mar- 
riage dowry  consisting  of  “oxen,  sheep,  storehouse,  and  granaries.” 
(See  infra,  p.  23.)  During  the  Chow  dynasty,  1122-1255  B.  C.,  when 
the  marriage  rites  became  more  elaborate,  we  find  that  the  “gift”  to 
the  bride’s  family  on  the  occasion  of  proposal  was  a goose,  and  the 
“special  present”  given  by  the  suitor’s  family  or  parents  was  usually 
a few  pieces  of  silk  which  were  supposed  to  be  used  as  part  of  the 
trousseau  for  the  bride.  (See  infra,  p.  41.)  From  the  Chow  dynasty 
to  the  last  days  of  the  late  Manchu  dynasty  (1911)  a marriage 
present  in  the  form  of  money  was  generally  held  in  contempt.  The 
note  to  the  clause  on  “Marriage  Present”  in  the  chapter  on  “Mar- 
riage” in  the  law  code  of  the  late  Manchu  dynasty  expressly  states 
that  a marriage  present  in  the  form  of  money  is  “barbarous.” 
(See  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee.  Chinese  edition.)  In  exceptional  cases, 
however,  such  as  the  inability  of  the  bride’s  parents  or  family  to 
provide  the  trousseau,  the  parents  or  family  of  the  prospective 
bridegroom  gave  money  for  such  purpose  under  the  name  of 
“marriage  present.” 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM  IN  THE  MAKING  21 


history  of  the  ancient  Chinese  family,  came  into  existence 
only  after  the  patronymic  family  system  was  fairly  well 
established.  It  is,  therefore,  more  consistent  with  the  known 
facts  to  regard  ancestor  worship  as  a result  rather  than  a 
cause  of  the  break-up  of  metronymy. 

The  origin  of  the  basic  principles  of  Chinese  family  law 
dates  back  to  the  time  of  Yaou,  2357-2258  B.  C.,  when  the 
family  had  definitely  and  finally  assumed  the  patronymic  type. 
In  Shu-king  we  find  that  the  Emperor  Yaou,  who  was  also  the 
Chia-chang2b a of  his  own  family,  not  only  had  promoted  love 
and  affection  among  the  nine  classes  of  his  family  relations, 
but  had  commissioned  Shun,  “ General  Regulator’’  of  his 
domain,  an  office  equivalent  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  in 
the  modern  Chinese  cabinet,  ‘ ‘ to  set  forth  carefully  the  beauty 
of  the  five  cardinal  duties”,  (i.e.,  those  between  husband  and 
wife,  parent  and  child,  elder  and  younger  brothers,  the  gov- 
erning and  the  governed,  and  between  friends),  and  “to  cause 
them  to  be  universally  observed”"6  by  the  people.  The  three 
family  duties  included  in  the  five  cardinal  duties,  though 
indefinite  and  imperfect,  constitute  the  family  law  of  Yaou’s 
time  and  the  nucleus  of  the  family  law  of  succeeding  periods. 

The  Emperor  Yaou  was  succeeded  by  his  minister  Shun. 
Shun  adopted  bodily  the  whole  set  of  laws  formulated  in  the 
reign  of  his  predecessor."7  These  laws  were  elaborated  and 
made  more  definite  under  Shun’s  regime.  He  appointed  his 
Minister  of  Instruction  to  teach  the  people  that  “between 
father  and  son,  there  should  be  affection ; between  sovereign 
and  minister,  righteousness ; between  husband  and  wife, 
attention  to  their  separate  functions ; between  old  and  young, 
a proper  order;  and  between  friends,  fidelity”.”  In  addition 
to  providing  public  instruction  in  the  five  cardinal  duties, 

238  Chia-chang  means  “elder  of  the  family.”  See  also  infra,  p.  48. 

28  Shu  King  ( The  Book  of  History),  translation  by  James  Legge, 
pt.  I,  chap.  I. 

21  Ibid,  pt.  II,  bk.  I,  chap.  V,  19. 

28 Ibid . and  Mencius,  bk.  Ill,  pt.  I,  chap.  IV,  8. 


22 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


Shun  also  appointed  Kaou-Yaou  as  Minister  of  Crime  to 
institute  five  punishments  (i.e.,  branding  on  the  forehead, 
cutting  off  the  nose,  cutting  off  the  feet,  castration,  and  death, 
which  might  be  by  one  of  several  modes  of  execution19),  “to 
assist  in  the  inculcation ’ ’ of  the  five  cardinal  duties.19 

It  was  upon  the  three  fundamental  principles  of  ancient 
Chinese  family  law,  namely,  that  ‘ ‘ between  husband  and  wife 
there  should  be  attention  to  their  separate  functions,  be- 
tween father  and  son,  affection,  and  between  old  and  young, 
a proper  order/'  that  the  Chinese  family  law  of  succeeding 
generations  was  based.  The  oldest  law  code  of  China,  the 
code  of  the  Han  dynasty,  178-157  B.  C.,  derived  practically 
all  its  clauses  from  the  primitive  laws  and  the  principles 
underlying  them.  The  later  code  of  the  T’ang  dynasty,  618- 
906  A.  D.,  i.  e.,  the  T’ang  Leu , was  derived  from  the  laws  of 
the  Han  dynasty:  and  the  code  of  the  late  Manchu  dynasty, 
Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee , contains  practically  all  the  laws  of  the 
T’ang  dynasty  with  only  a few  slight  modifications  and 
several  additional  clauses.30  Even  the  present  family  law, 
included  in  the  Provisional  Civil  Code  of  the  Chinese  Re- 
public, embodies  both  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  the  basic 
principles  that  “between  husband  and  wife  there  should  be 
attention  to  their  separate  functions,  between  father  and 
son,  affection,  and  between  old  and  young,  a proper  order.” 

Marriage  in  the  days  of  Yaou  and  Shun,  2357-2208  B.  C., 
was  performed  with  little  ceremony  or  ritual.  The  dowry 

” Shu  King.  pt.  II,  chap.  II,  p.  11.  Branding  and  the  cutting  off 
of  the  nose  and  feet  were  abolished  by  the  Emperor  Wan  of  the 
Han  dynasty,  178-156  B.  C.  Castration,  however,  remained  nominally 
on  the  statute  books  until  the  Suy  dynasty,  579-600  A.  D.  From  that 
time  until  the  late  Manchu  regime  the  five  punishments  were:  beat- 
ing with  bamboo,  beating  with  a cudgel,  the  shorter  banishment,  the 
longer  banishment  and  death,  which  might  be  by  decapitation, 
strangulation,  etc. 

30  See  Preface  to  the  Chinese  edition  of  TarTsing  Leu  Lee  ( The 
Fundamental  Laics  and  Subordinate  Statutes  of  the  Tsing  Dynasty) 
and  the  original  draft  of  Tu-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  which  has  been  reprinted 
in  several  editions. 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM  IN  THE  MAKING 


23 


given  was  usually  large.  There  appears  to  have  been  no  re- 
striction on  marriage  between  a man  and  woman  descended 
from  the  same  ancestor.  An  historical  instance  is  illustrative. 
Yaou  gave  his  two  daughters  in  marriage  to  Shun.  As 
dowry  he  bestowred  on  them  “oxen,  sheep,  storehouses,  ancl 
granaries”.31  Yaou  and  Shun  were  descendants  of  Hwang- ti 
and,  therefore,  Yaou’s  daughters  were  Shun’s  cousins  about 
ten  times  removed. 

This  little  historical  incident  caused  quite  a lot  of  contro- 
versy among  Chinese  scholars  of  later  periods.  Some  expressed 
emphatic  doubt  that  intelligent  and  enlightened  rulers  like 
Yaou  and  Shun  would  have  permitted  an  abhorrent  marriage 
between  descendants  of  the  same  ancestor.  Chu  Hsi,  the 
famous  classical  scholar,  denounced  Sze-Ma  Tsien,  the 
Chinese  Herodotus,  because  he  thought  the  latter’s  genealogy 
of  Yaou  and  Shun  highly  inimical  to  the  prestige  of  two 
great  sages.  He  probably  felt  that  Sze-Ma  Tsien  should  have 
twisted  the  genealogical  threads  of  these  two  sages  so  that 
the  marriage  incident  would  have  been  compatible  with  their 
unassailable  virtue  and  sagacity.  Others,  who  believed  that 
ancient  sages  could  do  no  wrong,  actually  tried  to  falsify  the 
genealogy  of  Shun.31 

The  trouble  with  these  enthusiastic  and  chauvinistic  classi- 
cal scholars  was  their  ignorance  of  the  social  history  of 
antiquity  and  their  distortion  of  historical  perspective.  They 
attempted  to  judge  the  conduct  of  the  ancients  by  the  ethical 
standards  of  several  thousand  years  later,  and  inevitably 
encountered  contradictions  and  inconsistencies.  The  marriage 
of  Yaou’s  two  daughters  to  Shun  was  in  no  way  contrary  to 
the  social  standards  and  customs  of  the  time.  There  was 
then  no  law  prohibiting  marriage  between  two  individuals 
descended  from  the  same  ancestor.  Such  a law  was  not 


"Mencius,  bk.  V,  pt.  I,  chap.  I,  sec.  3;  Shu  King,  pt.  I,  “Canon 
of  Yaou.” 

"Kuo  You  ( Narratives  of  Nations),  chapter  on  “Chin  Yu,”  sec. 
9;  and  Chun  Ts'iu  (Spring  and  Autumn),  “The  9th  Year  of  Chiu 
Kung.” 


24 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


established  until  over  a thousand  years  later.  Indeed,  from 
the  period  of  the  Wu-ti,  2704-2208  B.  C.,  to  the  Yin  dynasty, 
1766-1122  B.  C.,  there  was  no  law  in  China  prohibiting 
marriage  between  individuals  of  the  same  surname  or  between 
individuals  descended  from  a common  ancestor.” 

During  the  Yin  dynasty  intermarriage  was  permitted  be- 
yond the  fifth  generation.”  Even  during  the  Chow  dynasty 
marriage  between  individuals  of  the  same  surname  was 
tabooed  only  by  the  noble  class;  among  the  lower  classes  it 
was  quite  common.” 

Parental  consent  was  not  required  for  marriage  in  the  time 
of  Yaou.  Shun  was  married  without  consulting  his  parents 
or  announcing  to  them  his  engagement.  Mencius,  on  the 
other  hand,  asserts  that  parental  consent  was  required  in 
Yaou’s  time.  Mencius  was  once  asked  by  one  of  his  disciples, 
Wan  Chang,  “It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Poetry , — ‘In  marry- 
ing a woman,  how  ought  a man  to  proceed  ? He  must  inform 
his  parents’.”  How  was  it  that  Shun  married  without  in- 
forming his  parents?”  To  which  Mencius  replied,  “If  he 
had  informed  them,  he  would  not  have  been  able  to  marry 
(because  Shun’s  blind  father  was  ‘consistently  unprincipled 
and  his  stepmother  was  insincere’ ,a).  That  male  and  female 
should  dwell  together,  is  the  greatest  of  human  relationships. 
If  Shun  had  informed  his  parents,  he  would  have  foregone 
the  greatest  of  human  relationships  and  incurred  parental 
displeasure.  Therefore,  he  did  not  inform  them.”  Wan 
Chang  asked  again,  “But  how  was  it  that  the  Emperor  Yaou 
gave  Shun  his  two  daughters  as  wives  without  informing  the 
parents  of  Shun  ? ’ ’ Mencius  straightway  made  answer,  ‘ ‘ The 
Emperor  also  knew  that  if  he  informed  Shun’s  parents,  he 
could  not  have  given  his  daughters  to  Shun  as  wives”.36  Else- 
where Mencius  has  given  this  explanation : ‘ ‘ There  are  three 

33  Li  Ki  Choo  Soo  ( The  Book  of  Rites  with  Commentaries) , note 
to  text  on  “Marriage.” 

34  She  King  ( Book  oj  Odes),  pt.  I,  bk.  VIII,  ode  VI,  st.  3. 

35  Shu  King , pt.  I,  chap.  Ill,  sec.  12. 

36  Mencius,  bk.  V,  pt.  I,  chap.  II,  secs.  1-3. 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM  IN  THE  MAKING 


25 


things  which  are  unfilial,  and  to  have  no  posterity  is  the 
worst  of  them.  Shnn  married  without  informing  his  parents 
lest  he  should  have  no  posterity.  Superior  men  consider  that 
his  noble  motive  made  his  failure  to  inform  his  parents  as 
commendable  as  if  he  had  done  so”.8‘  In  other  words,  Mencius 
asserts  that  parental  consent  was  required  for  marriage  in 
Yaou’s  time  and  that  Shun’s  violation  of  the  marriage  rule 
was  due  to  justifiable  expediency.  Such  justification  may 
have  been  necessary  under  the  mores  of  Mencius’  own  time,3* 
but  in  the  days  of  Yaou,  thousands  of  years  before,  it  would 
have  been  superfluous.  It  is  highly  improbable  that  the  rule 
of  parental  consent  existed  in  Yaou’s  reign.  We  have  cer- 
tainly been  able  to  find  no  trace  of  it.  The  two  poetical  lines 
quoted  by  Wan  Chang  in  his  question  to  Mencius  are  from 
an  ode  which  first  appeared  in  the  time  of  King  Ch’ing, 
1114-1076  B.  C.,  of  the  Chow  dynasty,  thousands  of  years 
after  Yaou’s  time.  This  ode  is  in  no  sense  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  a rule  of  parental  consent  in  Yaou’s  time,  but 
probably  reflects  conditions  under  the  Chow  dynasty  when 
the  family  system  was  fairly  well  established  and  family  law 
was,  to  some  extent,  definitely  formulated.  Wan  Chang 
blundered  in  measuring  the  morals  of  antiquity  by  the  stand- 
ards of  a later  period ; while  Mencius  proved  himself  a poor 
advocate  in  denying  an  unreasonable  accusation  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  a justifiable  violation  of  a rule  which  did  not  exist. 
The  manner  in  which  ancient  scholars  have  interpreted  the 
laws  and  customs  of  antiquity  is  often  amusing,  but  seldom 
reliable. 


*' Ibid,  bk.  IX,  pt.  I,  chap.  XXVI,  secs.  1-2. 

**  Mencius  lived  in  a time  of  disorder  both  politically  and  socially 
when  human  conduct  was  largely  guided  by  expediency.  See  Men- 
cius, bk.  I,  pt.  II,  chap.  IV,  and  bk  VI,  pt.  II,  chap.  VII,  secs.  1-4, 
inclusive;  c/.  also  S.  G.  Su,  Mencius’  Sociological  Theory,  chap.  I. 
Manuscript  on  file  in  Columbia  University  Library. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Ancient  Chinese  Family  System 

Passing  from  what  may  be  called  the  formative  period  of 
Chinese  social  history,  the  period  from  primitive  times  to 
the  Chow  dynasty,  1122-1255  B.  C.,  when  the  family  system 
was  in  the  making,  we  come  now  to  a more  advanced  stage 
of  Chinese  civilization. 

It  is  generally  said  that  the  climax  of  the  civilization  of 
ancient  China  was  reached  under  the  Chow  dynasty.  To  a 
large  extent,  this  is  true.  Besides  the  establishment  of  an 
efficiently  working  governmental  system,  many  other  social 
institutions  assumed  definite  forms  during  this  period,  among 
them,  the  family  system. 

The  family  system  under  the  Chow  dynasty  deserves  care- 
ful and  detailed  consideration  for  it  has  been  perpetuated 
with  relatively  slight  modifications  down  to  the  present  day; 
the  present  system  is  essentially  and  fundamentally  like  its 
ancient  predecessor.  The  study  of  the  somewhat  simpler 
system  of  the  earlier  period  should  help  greatly  in  the 
analysis  of  the  system  of  today. 

I.  THE  FAMILY  LIFE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE 

Family  life  under  the  Chow  dynasty  is  portrayed  as  har- 
monious and  happy.  Popular  sentiment  regarding  home  life 
is  well  expressed  in  folk-songs  of  the  time : ‘ ‘ Happy  union 

with  wife  and  children  is  like  the  music  of  lutes  and  harps.’ ’ 
The  wife  is  depicted  as  frugal  and  industrious,  loving  her 
husband,  rejoicing  in  her  family.1  Among  many  poems  of 
the  period,  describing  the  happiness  of  family  life,  the  fol- 
lowing ode  gives  a simple  picture  of  a wife  of  the  lower 
class : 

1 She  King  (Translation  by  James  Legge),  pt.  I,  bk.  II,  odes  II 
and  IV.  All  quotations  from  She  King  are  taken  from  this  trans- 
lation. 


26 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


27 


“How  the  dolichos  spread  itself  out. 

Extending  to  the  middle  of  the  valley  J 
Its  leaves  were  luxuriant  and  dense. 

I  cut  it  and  boiled  it, 

And  made  both  fine  cloth  and  coarse, 

Which  I will  wear  without  getting  tired  of  it”.2 

Chinese  wives  of  these  days,  as  many  wives  of  the  present 
day,  often  had  stronger  minds  and  steadier  characters  than 
their  husbands.  It  is  of  interest  here  to  quote  two  odes 
which  give  clear  pictures  of  the  home  life  of  the  time.  The 
first  describes  a wife  of  the  common  people  sending  her 
husband  from  her  side  to  his  hunting,  expressing  her  affec- 
tion and  exhorting  him  to  cultivate  virtuous  friendships : 

1.  Says  the  wife,  “it  is  cock-crow;” 

Says  the  husband,  “It  is  grey  dawn.” 

“Arise,  Sir,  and  look  at  the  night, 

If  the  morning  star  be  not  shining. 

Bestir  yourself,  and  move  about, 

To  shoot  the  wild  ducks  and  geese. 

2.  “When  your  arrows  and  line  have  found  them, 

I will  dress  them  fitly  for  you. 

When  they  are  dressed,  we  will  drink  (together  over  them), 

And  I will  hope  to  grow  old  with  you. 

Your  lute  in  your  hands 

Will  emit  its  quiet  pleasant  tones. 

3.  “When  I know  those  whose  acquaintance  you  wish, 

I will  give  them  of  the  ornaments  of  my  girdle. 

When  I know  those  with  whom  you  are  cordial, 

I will  send  to  them  of  the  ornaments  of  my  girdle. 

When  I know  those  whom  you  love, 

1 will  repay  their  friendships  from  the  ornaments  of  my  girdle”.  * 

We  are  here  impressed  with  the  wifely  tenderness  in  the 
conjugal  relation. 

The  second  ode  describes  a marchioness  exhorting  her 
husband  to  rise  early  and  attend  to  his  duties: 

2 Ibid.  pt.  I,  bk.  I,  ode  II,  st.  2. 

3 Ibid  pt.  I,  bk.  VII.  ode  VIII. 


25 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


“The  cock  has  crowed; 

The  court  is  full.” 

“But  it  was  not  the  cock  that  crowed; 

It  was  the  noise  of  the  blue  flies.” 

“The  east  is  bright; 

The  court  is  crowded.” 

“But  it  is  not  the  east  that  is  bright; 

It  is  the  light  of  the  moon  coming  forth.” 

“The  insects  are  flying  in  buzzing  crowds. 

It  would  be  sweet  to  lie  by  you  and  dream, 

But  the  assembled  officers  will  be  going  home. 

Let  them  not  hate  both  you  and  me”.4 

It  is  evident  that  the  wives  of  this  period,  as  most  Chinese 
wives,  shared  in  the  ambition  of  their  husbands,  spurred 
them  on  to  noble  enterprise,  had  great  sympathy  with  them 
in  failure  and  poverty,  helping  them  to  conserve  and  aug- 
ment their  means.5  The  cheerfulness  with  which  the  wife 
acquiesced  in  separation  from  her  husband  when  public  duty 
called  him  away,  was  another  mark  of  the  unselfishness  of 
her  devotion.* 

Between  husband  and  wife  there  was  deep  affection  and 
permanent  attachment,  as  has  nearly  always  been  the  case 
among  the  Chinese.  Parental  power,  great  as  it  was, — and 
as  it  always  has  been  in  China, — had  to  give  way  before  the 
strength  of  conjugal  affection.  Before  marriage  parental 
influence  played  a far-reaching  role ; after  marriage  it 
practically  ceased  to  exist.  There  is  an  ode  voicing  the 
protest  of  a widow  against  her  parents’  plea  that  she  marry 
again  which  is  pertinent : 


He  vas  my  mate; 

And  I swear  that  till  death  I will  have  no  other. 

0.  mother,  O,  Heaven, 

Why  will  you  not  understand  me?”’ 

4 Ibid.  pt.  I,  bk.  VIII,  ode  I. 

'Ibid.  pt.  I,  bk.  Ill,  ode  X,  sts.  1 and  4. 

4 Ibid.  pt.  I,  bk.  XI,  ode  III;  bk.  V,  ode  VII;  bk.  VI,  ode  III;  bk. 
f,  ode  III;  and  pt.  II,  bk.  VIII,  ode  II. 

1 Tbid,  pt.  I,  bk.  IV,  ode  I;  also  pt.  I,  bk.  X,  ode  XI. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


29 


Such  loyalty  to  the  memory  of  a husband,  “rejoicing  in 
her  chains,”  as  an  English  missionary8  has  described  it, 
even  against  the  wishes  of  parents,  has  been  characteristic 
of  the  Chinese  wife  from  earliest  times  and  is  still  regarded 
with  the  highest  esteem. 

Neither  was  there,  in  those  early  days,  any  lack  of  affec- 
tion, loyalty,  and  faithfulness  on  the  part  of  the  husband: 

“Here  we  stay;  here  we  stop; 

Here  we  lose  our  horses; 

And  we  seek  for  them 

Among  the  trees  of  the  forest. 

“For  life  or  for  death,  however  separated, 

To  our  wives  we  pledge  our  word. 

We  held  their  hands; 

We  were  to  grow  old  together. 

“Alas  for  our  separation! 

We  have  no  prospect  of  life. 

Alas  for  our  stipulation! 

We  cannot  make  it  good.”  * 

The  faithfulness  and  loyalty  of  husbands  was  as  great  as 
that  of  wives.  But  when  the  widower  remained  single  be- 
cause of  his  devotion  to  the  memory  of  his  wife,  his  conduct 
was  invariably  considered  a matter  of  course  and  passed 
unnoticed  ;10  while  the  widow  who  remained  faithful  to  her 

•See  note  to  She  King,  pt.  I,  bk.  IV,  ode  I. 

* She  King  (Translation  by  James  Legge),  pt.  I,  bk.  Ill,  ode  VI; 
also  see  bk.  VI,  ode  IV. 

” After  the  above  sentence  was  written,  I came,  by  happy  chance, 
upon  the  following  report  in  The  Weekly  Review  of  the  Far  East, 
July  23,  1921,  p.  396.  Shanghai,  China: 

“The  Ministry  of  the  Interior  (in  China),  according  to  the  Hsin 
Shei  Hui  Pao,  has  circulated  a telegram  to  the  provinces  stating 
that  it  is  unfair  to  reward  chaste  widows  and  give  no  encourage- 
ment to  chaste  widowrers.  The  officials  are  ordered  to  recommend 
(for  reward)  widowers  who  refuse  to  marry  again  at  the  age  of 
sixty,  when  their  wives  died  within  thirty  years  of  age.” 

It  is  singularly  significant  to  note  that  it  took  more  than  3,000 
years  for  the  Chinese  people  to  recognize  unfairness  toward  widow- 
era. 


30 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


dead  husband  was  esteemed  and  respected  by  the  public,  and 
a stone  archway  was  erected  in  her  honor.  This  fact  has  been 
generally  overlooked  in  the  casual  observations  of  foreigners 
and  even  by  the  Chinese  people  themselves.  If  we  examine 
carefully  and  dispassionately  the  social  life  of  this  early 
period,  we  find  that  love  and  loyalty  between  husband 
and  wfife  were  not  one-sided  as  has  been  generally  supposed, 
but  mutual ; and  that  this  mutual  devotion  was  not  the  ful- 
filling of  an  obligation  imposed  by  a sense  of  duty,  but 
natural  and  spontaneous.  This  was  also  true  of  the  relation 
between  parents  and  children.11 

The  family  of  these  early  days,  as  of  the  present  day, 
often  consisted  of  parents  and  their  grown  sons  who,  after 
marriage,  were  still  living  under  the  same  roof.  For  this 
reason  brotherly  love  and  co-operation  received  great  empha- 
sis in  the  Chinese  home.  It  is  interesting  to  note  some  of 
the  sentiments  of  this  period  regarding  brotherly  love: 

Of  all  the  men  in  the  world,  there  are  none  equal  to  brothers. 
On  the  dreaded  occasions  of  death  and  burial,  it  is  the  brother  who 
greatly  sympathizes.  When  fugitives  are  collected  on  the  heights 
and  low  grounds,  they  are  brothers  who  seek  out  one  another.  When 
brothers  are  in  urgent  difficulties,  friends,  though  they  be  good 
friends,  have  only  long  sighs.  Brothers  may  quarrel  within  the 
walls,  but  without,  they  will  defend  one  another  from  insults,  when 
friends  however  good  they  may  be,  afford  no  help.  When  death 
and  disorder  have  passed  and  there  is  tranquility  and  rest,  some, 
though  they  have  brothers,  reckon  them  not  equal  to  friends.  Your 
dishes  may  be  set  in  array,  and  you  may  drink  to  satiety  but  it  is 
when  your  brothers  are  all  present  that  you  are  harmonious  and 
happy,  with  naive,  child-like  joy.  Loving  union  with  wife  and  children 
is  like  the  music  of  lutes;  but  it  is  in  the  accord  of  brothers  that  one 
finds  lasting  harmony  and  happiness.  For  the  ordering  of  your 
family,  for  your  joy  in  your  wife  and  children,  examine  this  and 
study  it.  Will  you  not  find  that  it  is  true?12 


11  See  She  King,  pt.  I,  bk.  IX,  ode  IV;  bk.  VI,  ode  IV;  bk.  Ill, 
ode  VII;  also  pt.  II,  bk.  V,  ode  VIII. 

12  She  King,  pt.  II,  bk.  I,  ode  IV;  cf.  also  pt.  I,  bk.  X,  ode  VI; 
pt.  II,  bk.  VII,  ode  IX;  and  bk.  IV,  ode  V. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


31 


II.  THE  GENERAL  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FAMILY 

Having  reviewed  the  psychological  aspects  of  the  ancient 
family,  we  now  turn  our  attention  to  its  structure.  It  was 
during  this  period  that  the  ancient  family  system,  in  all  its 
nicety  and  fixity,  was  perfected.  Its  perfection  is  generally 
attributed  to  King  Wu  and  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Chow, 
of  the  Chow  dynasty,  1122-255  B.  C.13 

He  [King  Wu,  with  the  advice  of  his  brother,  the  Duke  of 
Chow]  regulated  the  services  to  be  rendered  to  his  father  and  to 
his  grandfather  before  him,  giving  due  honour  to  the  more  honour- 
able. He  regulated  the  places  to  be  given  to  his  sons  and  to  his 
grandsons  below  him,  showing  affection  to  his  kindred.  He  regu- 
lated also  the  observances  for  his  collateral  cousins,  associating 
them  all  in  the  feasting;  he  defined  their  places  according  to  the 
order  of  their  descent,  and  his  every  distinction  was  in  harmony 
with  what  was  proper  and  right.  In  this  way  the  procedure  of 
human  duty  was  made  complete.14 

To  make  clear  the  relationships  of  the  ancient  Chinese 
family,  we  may  take,  in  illustration,  a family  of  this  early 
period,  consisting  of  parents,  (A),  two  sons,  (B)  and  (C), 
and  one  daughter,  omitting  all  earlier  ancestors  and  following 
the  growth  of  the  family  tree  from  this  segment  of  the  trunk. 
During  the  lifetime  of  the  parents,  the  father  was  the  head 
of  the  family.  With  the  help  of  his  wife,  he  arranged  all 
marriages  for  the  children.  After  marriage  the  two  sons 
brought  their  brides  to  their  parents  and  they  all  lived 
together  under  the  same  roof.  Daughters  given  in  mar- 
riage became,  of  course,  members  of  their  husbands’  families. 
Upon  the  death  of  the  father,  the  elder  son  assumed  the 
headship  of  the  family.  He  was  then  called  the  “honored 
head,”  for  he  was  the  legal  and  direct  heir  and  from  him 
the  original  paternal  line  continued.  The  younger  brother 
was  called  the  “small  honored  head”.15  The  position  of  the 
“honored  head.”  or  elder  brother,  was  higher  than  that  of 

"See  Historical  Records , “The  History  of  the  Chow  Dynasty;” 
also  Chow  Le,  chapter  on  “Sacrificial  Ceremony.” 

14  Li  Ki  (English  translation  by  James  Legge),  bk.  XIV,  sec.  3. 

18  Ibid,  bk.  XIII,  sec.  10. 


32 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


his  younger  brother  only  with  reference  to  family  relation- 
ships and  family  ancestral  worship ; it  involved  none  of  the 
property  rights  of  English  primogeniture,  for  in  case  of 
division  of  the  family  property,  every  male  child  received 
an  equal  share. 

Let  us  suppose  that  (B)  and  (C)  both  had  children.  On 
reaching  maturity,  the  children  would  be  married  according 
to  the  usual  custom.  After  marriage  they,  with  their  wives, 
would  live  with  their  grandparents,  their  parents,  and  their 
uncles  and  aunts.  Such  a kin-group  constituted  a single 
family. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  “honored  head”  of  the  family,  i.e. 
(B),  his  eldest  son  took  his  place  and  became  the  “honored 
head,”  and  not  the  brother  of  the  deceased,  (C),  or  any  of 
the  latter’s  sons.  In  this  way  the  paternal  stem  continued 
unbroken  for  generations. 

After  five  generations,  the  younger  brother,  (C),  branched 
out  and  became  the  ancestor  of  his  own  line.  This  branch 
grew  and  ramified  as  the  parent-stem  had  done,  but  all  the 
minor  branchings  were  connected  with  the  parent-stem.1* 

Every  branch  of  the  family,  no  matter  how  intricate  its 
ramifications,  was  always  connected  with  the  parent-stem. 
At  first  there  was  the  simple  family  consisting  of  parents 
and  children ; this  gradually  grew  and  developed  into  a large 
group  sometimes  occupying  a whole  village  or  town,  which 
has  been  called  unscientifically  “a  clan”.17  This  type  of 
family  flourished  under  the  Chow  dynasty.18 

When  a family  had  grown  into  a very  large  group,  a 
small  household  or  a few  male  members  of  the  “greater 
family”  would  sometimes  emigrate  to  a different  locality. 
There  they  would  establish  themselves  as  an  independent 
household,  growing  and  developing  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  original  group  from  which  they  came,  but  never  sever- 

16 Li  Ki  (Translation  by  James  Legge),  bk.  XIII,  sees.  10  and  11. 

17  Ibid,  bk.  XIV,  sec.  6.  For  reasons  given  in  note  56,  infra  chap. 
IX,  we  shall  use  the  term  “greater  family”  for  the  whole  family 
group. 

18  History  of  Chinese  Customs,  pt.  I,  chap.  Ill,  sec.  5. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


33 


mg  the  ties  which  bound  them  to  this  group.  On  solemn 
occasions,  such  as  seasonal  sacrifices  to  the  highest  ancestors 
of  the  original  family,  or  marriages  and  deaths,  they  usually 
sent  representatives  or,  if  the  distance  was  not  too  great,  the 
whole  family  would  attend  the  ceremonies.  Even  after 
thousands  of  years,  when  there  had  been  no  intercommunica- 
tion, members  of  the  offshoot  family  still  bore  the  original 
surname.  Whenever  representatives  of  the  two  groups  en- 
countered one  another,  whether  or  not  descended  from  the 
same  ancestor,  they  regarded  themselves  as  relations  and 
displayed  to  one  another  the  warmest  feelings. 

Both  the  offshoot  family  and  the  “ greater  family”  kept 
carefully  compiled  historical  records.  Even  today  it  is  not 
uncommon  to  find  families  that  possess  complete  genealogical 
records  and  can  trace  back  their  descent  through  thousands 
of  years. 

A complete  nomenclature  was  worked  out  for  the  com- 
plicated, yet  well  defined,  family  relationships  of  this  period. 
Agnatic  relationships  had  a distinct  terminology,  carried  out 
in  the  most  minute  detail.  Elder  brothers  were  sharply 
distinguished  from  younger ; elder  uncles,  from  those  younger 
than  the  father  of  the  given  nephew ; direct  female  ancestors 
from  male ; junior  sisters,  from  senior.  These  distinctions 
were  extended  to  the  smallest  details  of  famity  relationship, 
from  great-great-grandparents  to  the  sixth-great-grandchil- 
dren, including  all  collaterals.10  The  descriptive  terms  were 
fixed  and  immutable,"0  and  determined  the  different  positions 
of  the  male  and  female  members  of  the  family. 

t 

; III.  THE  DUTIES  OF  CHILDREN  TO  PARENTS 

The  father  and  mother  in  this  period  received  identical 
consideration,  respect,  and  obedience  from  their  children;"1 

1S  For  the  terminology  of  the  various  family  relationships,  see 
History  of  Chinese  Customs,  pt.  I,  chap.  Ill,  sec.  12;  and  Li  Ki,  bk. 

I,  pt.  Ill,  secs.  13  and  14.  Also  cf.  footnote  1 infra  chap.  X. 

20  Li  Ei,  bk.  XIV,  sec.  6. 

11  Ibid,  bk.  XLVI,  sec.  6;  bk.  X,  secs.  3 and  13-20;  and  bk.  II, 
sec.  1,  pt.  I,  2. 


34 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


and  under  no  circumstances  could  a parent  ill-treat  the 
child/2  Children,  contemplating  marriage,  had  first  to  an- 
nounce the  fact  to  their  parents.23  If  a daughter-in-law  was 
not  in  accordance  with  them,  parents  had  the  right  to  request 
their  son  to  divorce  his  wife.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
son  could  not  live  amicably  with  his  wife,  but  the  parents 
said,  “She  serves  us  well,”  then  the  son  “should  behave  to 
her  in  all  respects  as  his  wife,  without  fail,  even  unto  the 
end  of  her  life”.24  The  only  exception  to  this  rule  was  when 
the  daughter-in-law  was  guilty  of  a serious  crime,  like 
adultery,  for  which  an  immediate  divorce  was  required  by 
civil  law.2"  Neither  a son  nor  a daughter  could  own  separate 
property ; nor  had  they  the  right  to  give  away  any  of  the 
family  possessions  without  the  consent  of  their  parents.26  On 
the  other  hand,  parents  had  no  right  to  dispose  of  any 
property,  by  will  or  otherwise,  to  any  person  other  than 
their  own  children,  or,  if  these  were  deceased,  to  their  chil- 
dren’s children.  Upon  the  death  of  their  parents,  children 
were  required  to  wear  mourning  for  three  years27  (in  practice 
about  twenty-five  months),  and  to  honor  their  memory  by 
regularly  prescribed  sacrifices.28 

"Ibid,  bk.  X,  14:  “When  sons  and  their  wives  have  not  been 

filial  and  reverent,  the  parents  should  not  be  angry  and  resentful, 
but  should  endeavor  to  instruct  them.  If  the  sons  and  their  wives 
will  not  receive  instruction,  parents  should  then  be  angry  with 
them.  If  anger  do  no  good,  they  can  then  drive  out  the  son  and 
send  his  wife  away,  yet  not  showing  publicly  why  they  have  so 
treated  them.” 

23  See  “Marriage”  infra  p.  40. 

24  Li  Ki , bk.  X,  sec.  16;  also  see  The  Li  by  the  Edder  Tai,  bk. 
XIII,  chap.  XXVI:  “The  Seven  Grounds  of  Divorce.” 

25  Ibid. 

26  Li  Ki,  bk.  II,  sec.  1,  pt.  Ill,  4;  bk.  X,  sec.  1,  19. 

27 History  of  Chinese  Customs,  pt.  I,  chap.  Ill,  sec.  9;  and  Li  Ki, 
bk.  II,  sec.  I,  pt.  I,  2;  bk.  XXVII,  sec.  17;  bk.  XXXV,  secs,  12-16, 
Even  if  the  son  was  in  governmental  service  his  superior  officer  had 
to  discharge  him  for  the  three  years’  mourning  of  his  parents:  Li 
Ki.  hk.  Ill,  sec.  V,  12. 

28  See  “Ancestor  worship,”  infra,  p.  39. 


CHAPTER  III 


The  Ancient  Chinese  Family  System — continued. 

IV.  THE  DUTIES  OF  PARENTS  TO  CHILDREN 

The  duty  of  parents  during  this  period  is  a subject  that  has 
often  been  overlooked.  Parents  had  a moral  duty  and  a legal 
obligation  to  care  for  and  support  their  children,  even,  in 
some  cases,  after  marriage. 

It  is  of  interest  and  importance  to  note  the  methods  and 
principles  followed  by  Chinese  parents  in  these  days  for 
the  rearing  of  their  children.  When  a child  was  born,  the 
father  had  to  fast  (the  duration  of  the  fast  was  not  speci- 
fied) to  show  his  respect  for  the  child  and  his  realization  of 
the  grave  responsibility  imposed  by  its  birth.20  At  the  end 
of  the  third  month  a day  was  chosen  for  naming  the  child. 
This  was  a great  family  affair.  Near  relations,  and  all  rela- 
tions of  the  same  surname,  were  invited  to  attend  the 
ceremony,  and  a feast  was  provided  for  the  occasion.90 

The  training  of  children  was  as  follows : 

When  the  child  was  able  to  feed  itself,  it  was  taught  to  use 
the  right  hand.  When  able  to  speak,  a boy  was  taught  to  respond 
boldly  and  clearly;  a girl,  submissively  and  low. 

At  six  years,  the  child  was  taught  the  numbers  and  the  names 
of  the  cardinal  points.  At  the  age  of  seven,  boys  and  girls  did  not 
occupy  the  same  mat31  or  eat  together.  At  eight,  when  going  in 
or  coming  out  at  a gate  or  door,  and  going  to  their  mats  to  eat 
and  drink,  they  were  required  to  follow  their  elders;  the  teaching 


29  Li  Ei,  bk.  X,  sec.  II,  16. 

80  For  this  ceremony,  see  Li  Ki,  bk.  X,  sec.  II,  21,  28  and  29. 

"The  ancient  Chinese,  like  the  modern  Japanese,  did  not  use 
chairs,  but  sat  on  weed  mats  which  were  spread  on  the  floor. 

35 


36 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


of  yielding  to  others  was  now  begun.  At  nine,  they  were  taught 
how  to  number  the  days.32 

At  ten,  the  boy  went  to  a master  outside  his  home.33  From 
him  he  learned  the  different  classes  of  characters  and  calculation. 
He  did  not  wear  his  jacket  or  trousers  of  silk;  in  his  manners  he 
followed  his  earlier  instruction.  Morning  and  evening  he  learned 
the  behaviour  of  a youth;  he  would  ask  to  be  instructed  in  read- 
ing the  tablets  and  in  the  forms  of  polite  conversation. 

At  thirteen,  he  learned  music,  and  to  repeat  the  odes,  and  to 
dance  the  Ko  (of  the  Duke  of  Chow).  When  a full-grown  lad,  he 
danced  the  Hsiang  (of  King  Wu),  and  learned  archery  and  chariot 
driving. 

At  twenty,  he  was  capped 34  and  taught  the  different  classes  of 
ceremonies.  He  danced  the  td-hsia  (of  Yu),  wore  furs  and  silks, 
and  attended  sedulously  to  filial  and  fraternal  duties 

At  thirty,  he  took  a wife  and  began  to  attend  to  the  business 
proper  to  a man 

A girl  at  the  age  of  ten  ceased  to  go  out.  Her  governess 
taught  her  the  arts  of  pleasing  speech  and  manners,  to  be  docile 
and  obedient,  to  handle  the  hempen  fibres  and  the  cocoons,  to 
weave  silks  and  fashion  fillets.  She  learned  all  woman’s  work,  to 
make  garments,  to  watch  the  sacrifices,  to  serve  the  liqueurs  and 
sauces,  to  fill  the  various  stands  and  dishes  with  pickles  and 
brine,  and  to  assist  in  setting  forth  the  ceremonial  appurtenances. 

At  fifteen,  she  assumed  the  hairpin.  At  twenty,  she  was 
married,  or,  if  there  were  reason  for  delay,  at  twenty-three.  If 
there  were  betrothal  rites,  she  became  a wrife. 35 

It  is  evident  that  Chinese  parents  of  those  days  exercised 
the  most  painstaking  care  in  training  their  children  for  the 
functions  and  duties  of  manhood  and  womanhood. 

32  To  number  the  days  was  a more  complicated  affair  than  one 
might  imagine,  requiring  an  acquaintance  with  all  the  terms  of  the 
cycle  of  sixty,  as  wrell  as  the  more  complicated  method  by  decades 
for  each  month. 

33  That  is  to  attend  private  school. 

34  For  the  ceremony  of  capping  and  its  significance  see  Li  Ki. 
bk.  XL,  secs.  3-6;  bk.  I,  sec.  I,  pt.  Ill,  9;  bk.  I,  sec.  I,  pt.  I, 
chap.  7. 

35  Li  Ki.  bk.  X,  sec.  II,  32-37.  These  passages  refer  to  children 
in  families  of  the  upper  class;  but  children  of  the  common  people 
were  reared  in  a corresponding  manner,  according  to  the  financial 
circumstances  of  their  parents. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM— continued  37 


V.  RELATIONSHIPS  AMONG  THE  JUNIOR  MEMBERS  OF  THE 

FAMILY 

Legally,  the  younger  sons  of  a family  were  on  the  same 
footing  as  their  older  brothers,  but  unwritten  social  and 
ethical  laws  imposed  upon  them  the  duty  of  rendering 
reverence,  respect,  and  obedience  to  their  elders.36  The  eldest 
son,  being  the  direct  propagator  of  his  father’s  line,  had  the 
sole  right  to  make  sacrifices  to  deceased  parents  and  an- 
cestors/7 If  for  some  extraordinary  reason  a younger 
brother  had  to  make  sacrifice  to  the  family’s  ancestors,  he 
must  first  obtain  formal  permission  from  the  eldest  brother 
who  was  custodian  of  the  ancestral  tablets  and  of  the 
temple/8  When  the  family  property  was  intact  and  all  the 
brothers  were  living  together,  no  brother,  not  even  the  eldest, 
had  the  right  to  give  away  anything  belonging  to  the  family. 
If,  for  extraordinary  reasons,  a younger  brother  was  com- 
pelled to  give  away  something  belonging  to  the  family,  “he 
must  first  obtain  authority  for  the  act  from  his  parents  or 
eldest  brother”/3 

The  position  of  the  wives  of  brothers  living  in  the  family 
was  in  many  respects  like  that  of  their  husbands.  Upon  the 
death  of  their  father-in-law,  and  when  their  mother-in-law 
had  retired  from  the  active  headship  of  the  family,  the  wife 
of  the  eldest  son  took  her  place  as  a sort  of  regent  in  the 
household.  But  on  all  occasions  of  sacrifice  and  of  receiv- 
ing guests,  she  had  to  ask  for  directions  from  her  mother-in- 
lawT;  while  all  the  other  sisters-in-law  had  to  seek  guidance 
and  direction  from  her.  The  wife  of  the  eldest  son,  however, 
“should  not  be  dilatory,  neither  should  she  be  unfriendly  or 
impolite  to  her  sisters-in-law,  even  if  they  did  not  assist 
her.”  If  for  some  reason  the  parents-in-law  appointed  one 
of  the  younger  sons’  wives  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the 

* Li  Ki.  bk.  X,  sec.  14. 

17  Ibid,  bk.  XIII,  secs.  12  and  14;  bk.  XIV,  secs.  13-15,  inclusive. 

M Ibid,  bk.  I,  sec.  II,  pt.  Ill,  9. 

" Ibid . bk.  II,  sec.  I,  pt.  Ill,  4. 


38 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


family,  this  wife  could  not  presume  to  regard  herself  as  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  wife  of  the  eldest  son,  “walking 
side  by  side  with  her,  or  giving  orders  in  the  same  way,  or 
sitting  in  the  same  position”.4* 

VI.  ANCESTOR  WORSHIP 

The  ancient  Chinese,  like  the  ancients  of  most  other  races, 
entertained  the  superstition  that  the  spirits  of  human  beings 
had  a post-mortem  existence,  and  that  the  departed  spirits 
of  friends  and  ancestors  were  able  to  interfere  in  the  affairs 
of  the  living.  It  was,  therefore,  considered  the  duty  of  the 
living  to  maintain,  by  religious  rites,  communication  with 
the  spirits  of  the  dead.  Before  every  event  of  importance, 
the  spirits  were  informed  and  consulted.  There  are,  in  the 
history  of  ancient  China,  many  instances  of  such  communica- 
tion. When  the  Emperor  Yaou,  having  reigned  for  seventy 
years,  became  too  old  to  manage  alone  the  affairs  of  state, 
he  appointed  Shun  as  vicegerent  to  help  him.  The  ceremony 
of  appointment  was  held  in  “the  Temple  of  the  Accom- 
plished Ancestor”.41  When  Shun  came  to  the  throne,  he,  in 
his  turn,  “went  to  the  Temple  of  the  Accomplished  An- 
cestor” to  announce  his  accession  to  the  throne.41  In  like 
manner,  when  Shun  selected  Yu  the  Great  to  help  him  in 
governmental  administration,  “Yu  received  his  appointment 
at  the  Temple  of  the  Spiritual  Ancestors”.41 

Although  ancestor  worship,  as  has  already  been  pointed 
out,  was  a result  rather  than  a cause  of  the  transition  to  the 
patronymic  type  of  family,4"  it  obviously  became  a powerful 
factor  in  the  stabilization  of  the  patronymic  system.  Just  how 
this  influence  made  itself  felt,  wre  shall  presently  see.4* 

40  Ibid,  bk.  X,  sec.  18. 

41  Shu-King.  pt.  II,  bk.  I,  sec.  4. 

4-  Vide  supra,  p.  21. 

43  In  bks.  I and  III  of  the  last  part  of  She  King , there  are 
sacrificial  odes  which  were  used  in  the  temple  services  of  the 
kings  under  the  Shang  and  Chow  dynasties  (1766-1255  B.  C.). 
Some  of  them  are  songs  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  some  are 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM— continued  39 


It  was  customary  under  the  Chow  dynasty  for  people  of 
all  classes,  including  the  royal  family,  to  make  sacrifices  to 
their  ancestors  in  the  first  month  of  each  of  the  four  seasons 
of  the  year.  Different  classes  of  people  had  different  places 
for  the  making  of  sacrifices.  The  common  people  could  not 
establish  ancestral  temples ; they  were  compelled  to  make 
sacrifices  at  the  ancestral  shrines  in  their  homes.  The  nobles 
and  high  officers,  on  the  other  hand,  had  ancestral  temples 
in  which  the  sacrificial  rites  were  performed.  The  ruling 
family  offered  sacrifices  in  the  royal  temple  of  their  an- 
cestors.4' 

Upon  the  occasion  of  ancestral  sacrifice  all  relations, — men 
and  women,  young  and  old, — descendants  of  a common 
ancestor,  gathered  together.  The  sacrificial  ceremonies  were 
elaborate.45  Following  the  religious  rites,  there  was  convivial- 
ity and  feasting:  “They  ate  to  the  full  and  drank  to  the 
full”.48  These  seasonal  sacrifices  were  in  the  nature  of  great 
family  reunions  at  which  the  living  met  and  ate  and  drank 
together  in  the  presence  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead.  Their 
effect  upon  family  solidarity  and  stability  cannot  be  over- 
stated. 

VII.  ANCIENT  CHINESE  MARRIAGE 

During  the  Chow  dynasty  the  marriage  institution  de- 
veloped the  complex  structure  which  was  handed  down 
without  much  alteration  to  the  last  days  of  the  late  Manchu 
regime.  Indeed,  the  marriage  rules  and  customs  of  this 
early  period  were  closely  copied  for  generations  and  ulti- 
mately became  the  formally  enacted  marriage  laws  of  China. 

songs  of  supplication,  and  others,  in  which  we  are  most  interested, 
relate  the  circumstances  of  the  service,  describing  the  occasion 
for  it,  and  the  parties  present  and  participating. 

44  History  of  Chinese  Customs,  pt.  I,  chap.  Ill,  sec.  10;  also  see 
Chow  Le,  passim. 

45  For  these  ceremonies  see  She  King  (Translation  by  James 
Legge),  pt.  IV,  bk.  I (II),  ode  VII;  pt.  II,  bk.  VI,  ode  V;  also 
Li  Ki,  bk.  XXII,  sec.  18;  bk.  VII,  sec.  I,  10  and  11;  bk.  XIV. 

46  She  King,  pt.  Ill,  bk.  II,  ode  II;  pt.  II,  bk.  VI,  ode  V,  st.  6; 
pt.  Ill,  bk.  II,  ode  III. 


40 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


First  among  the  marriage  requirements  of  that  period  was 
parental  consent.  Public  opinion  of  that  time  expresses 
itself  poetically  in  the  following  lines : 

“How  do  we  proceed  in  planting  hemp? 

The  acres  must  be  dressed  lengthwise  and  crosswise. 

How  do  we  proceed  in  taking  a wife? 

Announcement  must  first  be  made  to  our  parents.”47 

If  both  parents  were  dead,  announcement  of  the  intention 
to  marry  had  to  be  made  to  their  spirits  in  the  ancestral 
temple  or  at  the  shrine  in  the  home,  and  sanction  for  the 
union  thus  obtained.48 

The  second  requirement  for  marriage  was  a go-between. 
Whenever  two  families  wished  to  form  a matrimonial  alli- 
ance, the  negotiations  had  to  be  carried  on  by  a third  party 
or  parties,  who  might  be  either  a man  or  a woman,  or  both, 
and  who  made  the  marriage  proposals  to  the  two  households. 
The  importance  of  the  go-between  is  emphasized  in  the 
following  passage  written  in  this  period : 

i - 

“In  hewing  the  wrood  for  an  axe  handle,  how’  do  you  proceed? 

Without  another  axe,  it  cannot  be  done. 

In  marrying  a wife,  howr  do  you  proceed? 

Without  a go-between,  it  cannot  be  done.” 49 

Prohibition  of  marriage  between  persons  of  the  same  sur- 
name also  originated  in  this  period.  “There  could  be  no 
intermarriage  between  kin  even  after  a hundred  generations. 
Such  was  the  rule  of  Chow”.50  Khan  Hao,  one  of  the  fore- 
most Chinese  classical  scholars,  regards  prohibition  of  con- 
sanguineous marriage  as  the  great  achievement  of  the  Chow 

47  Ibid,  pt.  I,  bk.  VIII,  ode,  VI,  st.  3. 

4S  Li  Ki.  bk.  I,  sec.  I,  pt.  Ill,  37. 

49  She  King  (Translation  by  James  Legge),  pt.  I,  bk.  XV, 
ode  V and  pt.  I,  bk.  VIII,  ode  V,  st.  4;  cf.  also  Li  Ki  bk.  i. 
sec.  I,  pt.  Ill,  chap.  6,  sec.  36,  and  Chow  Le,  section  on  “Ar- 
ranger of  Marriage.” 


40  Li  Ki.  bk.  XIV,  sec.  8. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINE 8E  FAMILY  SYSTEM— continued  41 


dynasty,  making  clear  “for  the  first  time  the  distinction 
between  man  and  beast'’/1 

What  were  the  reasons  for  this  prohibition?  In  the  time 
of  Chun  Ts’iu,  near  the  end  of  the  Chow  dynasty,  this  point 
was  discussed  by  two  writers.  One,  Shu  Peh,  gives  the  ex- 
planation that  there  could  be  no  offspring  from  a marriage 
between  persons  of  the  same  blood  ;52  while  the  other,  Shu 
Chiam,  says  that  a marriage  between  persons  of  the  same 
surname  would  not  produce  many  children.5"  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  consanguineous  marriage  was  prohibited  for 
biological  reasons. 

The  age  of  marriage  in  this  period  was  for  a man,  thirty;5* 
for  a woman,  twenty.54  These  ages  were  fixed  b}^  custom,  not 
by  statute.55 

The  procedure  and  ceremony  of  marriage  were  very  elab- 
orate. We  can  only  note  here  those  features  which  had  a 
marked  influence  upon  the  marriage  laws  and  customs  of 
later  periods.  The  introductory  ceremonies  were:  (1)  the 

proposal,  with  its  accompanying  gift;5"  (2)  the  inquiries 
about  the  lady's  name;  (3)  the  intimation  of  approving 
divination;57  (4)  the  receiving  of  special  offerings;58  (5)  the 
request  to  fix  the  date  of  the  wedding;'"  (6)  Chin-yin,  re- 

61  See  Li  Ki  Choo  Soo.  passim. 

62  See  History  of  Chinese  Customs . pt.  I,  chap.  III. 

™ Li  Ki,  bk.  I,  sec.  I,  pt.  I,  7. 

“Ibid,  bk.  X,  sec.  II,  37. 

55  History  of  Chinese  Customs,  pt.  I,  chap.  Ill;  also  see 

Chow  Le,  chap.  XIII,  55. 

56  The  gift  was  usually  a goose.  No  reason  is  to  be  found 
why  the  ancient  Chinese  people  used  a goose  for  this  purpose. 

57  At  the  time  of  the  proposal,  the  family  of  the  prospec- 
tive bridegroom  also  used  divination. 

68  Offerings  varied  from  1 to  7 pieces  of  silk,  but  tw^o  pieces 
were  most  frequently  used.  See  History  of  Chinese  Customs. 
pt.  I,  chap.  III. 

59  The  family  of  the  prospective  bride  fixed  the  marriage 

date.  All  negotiations  were  carried  on  by  the  go-betw^een. 


42 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


eeption  of  the  bride  by  the  bridegroom."0.  All  these  inquiries, 
requests,  etc.,  were  received  at  the  ancestral  temple  by  the 
representative  of  the  prospective  bride’s  family.81  When  the 
marriage  date  had  been  fixed,  the  bridegroom,  with  purifica- 
tion and  fasting,  announced  it  to  his  ancestors.0"  It  is 
evident  that  religious  sanctions  played  a large  part  in  the 
ancient  institution  of  marriage.  In  addition  to  the  cere- 
monies mentioned,  the  bridegroom  gave  a feast  to  which  his 
friends  in  the  neighborhood  and  district  were  invited  and 
at  which  he  announced  his  engagement.03 

All  these  marriage  usages  were  scrupulously  observed  by 
the  Chinese  of  this  period.  They  constituted,  indeed,  a 
powerful  and  irresistible  social  pressure,  reflected  in  many 
stories84  of  the  time  of  which  the  following  is  a typical 
example : A lady  engaged  to  be  married  decided  that  the 
ceremonial  offerings  from  the  family  of  the  prospective 
bridegroom  were  not  as  complete  as  custom  required.  When 
her  fiance  wished  to  meet  her  and  take  her  to  his  home,  she 
and  her  friends  refused  to  carry  out  the  engagement.  The 
fiance  brought  the  case  to  trial ; whereupon  the  lady  com- 
posed an  ode,  asserting  that  so  long  as  a single  ceremonial 
rule  was  not  complied  with,  she  would  not  allow  herself  to 
be  forced  from  her  parents’  home:6" 

“Who  can  say  the  sparrow  has  no  horn? 

How  else  could  it  bore  through  my  house? 

Who  can  say  that  you  did  not  betroth  me? 

80  Li  Ki  (Legge’s  translation),  bk.  XVIII,  p.  172. 

w Li  Ki , bk.  XLI,  sec.  1. 

“ Ibid,  bk.  I,  sec.  I,  pt.  Ill,  37. 

63  Ibid.  For  the  elaborate  ceremonies  of  the  ancient  wed- 
ding, see  Li  Kif  bk.  XLI,  secs.  1-10,  inclusive. 

04  See  She  King,  pt.  I,  bk.  II,  ode  VI;  bk.  IV,  ode  VIII; 
bk.  VI,  ode  IX;  bk.  VII,  ode  II. 

w We  must  keep  in  mind  the  ancient  belief  that  every  re- 
spectable marriage  should  comply  with  all  the  prevailing 
matrimonial  usages;  otherwise  the  marriage  was  considered 
equivalent  to  “taking  a concubine,”  or,  in  modern  phrase, 
“having  a mistress.”  See  Li  Ki,  bk.  XLI  and  XVIII. 


THE  ANCIENT  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM— continued  43 


How  else  could  you  have  brought  on  this  trial? 

But  though  you  have  forced  me  to  trial, 

Your  ceremonies  of  betrothal  were  not  sufficient. 

“Who  can  say  that  the  rat  has  no  molar  teeth? 

How  else  could  it  bore  through  my  wall? 

Who  can  say  that  you  did  not  betroth  me? 

How  else  could  you  have  brought  on  this  trial? 

But  though  you  have  forced  me  to  trial, 

I will  still  not  follow  you.” 68 

Confucius,  commenting  on  these  marriage  customs,  says : 
“It  was  by  these  rules  that  the  ancient  kings  sought  to 
follow  the  ways  of  Heaven,  and  to  regulate  the  feelings  of 
men.  Therefore,  he  who  neglects  or  violates  them  may  be 
spoken  of  as  dead,  and  he  who  observes  them,  as  alive  ”.ST 

The  ancient  Chinese  family  was  characterized  by  its  stabil- 
ity and  solidarity,  by  the  thoroughness  with  which  it  reared 
and  educated  the  young  and  safeguarded  them  from  eco- 
nomic handicaps,  and,  finally,  by  its  sexual  purity.  Chastity 
was  rigidly  enforced  among  the  women.  It  was,  of  course, 
not  so  rigidly  enforced  among  the  men,  but  a strong  social 
pressure  restricted  the  predatory  male  and  made  him  rela- 
tively faithful  to  his  wife.  On  the  whole,  the  Chinese 
family  system  of  this  period  must  be  ranked  high  among 
the  ancient  social  institutions  of  the  world. 

The  Chinese  family  system  of  today,  as  we  shall  see  in 
the  following  chapters,  grew  out  of  this  ancient  system.  Un- 
like the  Roman  family,  it  has  followed  in  its  development  a 
continuously  smooth,  upward  trending  evolutionary  curve, 
wdth  practically  no  outstanding  “peaks”.  Fortunately  or 
unfortunately,  the  ancient  Chinese  family  system  was  built 
upon  a foundation  that  subsequent  generations  found  little 
need  to  change.  The  more  complex  and  highly  organized 
system  of  today  has  developed  slowly  and  almost  imper 
ceptibly  during  the  past  thousand  years,  and  still  rests  upon 
the  ancient  foundation. 

m She  King,  pt.  I,  bk.  II,  ode  VI  (Translated  by  James 
Legge). 

97  Li  Ki,  bk.  VII,  sec.  I,  4. 


PART  II. 


The  Chinese  Family  System  of  Today 


CHAPTER  IV 


The  General  Structure  of  the  Chinese  Family  Today 

It  has  often  been  said  that  China  is  made  up  of  families 
and  nothing  else.  This  is,  to  a large  extent,  true;  the 
units  of  Chinese  society  are  not  individuals,  but  families.1 
The  family  is  indeed  so  fundamental  that  for  thousands  of 
years  the  Chinese  state  has  been  modelled  according  to  the 
family  organization.  “Desiring  to  order  well  the  state,  they 
first  regulated  their  families”."  This  was  the  conception  of 
government  up  to  the  establishment  of  the  Chinese  Republic 
in  1911.  Today,  when  the  principle  and  form  of  Chinese 
government  are  changing,  when  its  organization  has  been 
worked  out  on  an  entirely  new  plan,  most  people  in  China 
still  use  the  compound  term,  “Kuo-chia,”  meaning  literally 
“country  and  family”,  when  they  really  mean  the  country 
or  nation. 

What  is  a Chinese  family?  Theoretically  it  may  be  de- 
fined as  a group  of  kinsfolk  consisting  of  parents  and  their 
children  living  together  in  a single  domestic  establishment.* 
Practically  it  is  not  so  similar  to  the  families  of  Western 
nations.  In  China  a married  son  seldom  establishes  a new 
home,  but  continues  to  live,  with  his  bride,  in  the  home  of 
his  parents.  When  his  sons  marry,  they  and  their  wives, 
in  turn,  live  in  the  same  household  with  their  parents  and 
grandparents.  Thus  a Chinese  family  may  sometimes  in- 
/ 

V 'See  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee  (English  translation  by  Sir  G.  T.  Staun- 
ton), sec.  75  and  Provisional  Civil  Code,  bk.  IV,  “ Preliminary 
Explanations .” 

2 The  Great  Learning  (one  of  the  Confucian  analets),  chap.  I,  4. 

* Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1323,  and  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee, 
sec.  75. 


47 


48 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


elude  several  generations,  from  the  great-grandparents  to 
the  great-grandchildren.4  It  is  indicative  of  the  harmony 
and  happiness  of  Chinese  family  life  that  the  descendants 
of  common  ancestors  can  dwell  together  in  the  same  house- 
hold for  generations.  In  modern  China,  of  course,  a family 
comprising  many  generations  is  rather  hard  to  find,  even  in 
the  rural  districts.  The  typical  family  of  the  present  in- 
cludes two  or  three  generations. 

Every  Chinese  family,  even  those  no  larger  than  the 
Western  family,  has  a family  head,  who  is  usually  the 
father.  The  head  of  the  family  is  called  Chia-chang,  mean- 
ing “elder  of  the  family”.  His  position  is  quite  different 
from  that  occupied  by  the  Roman  pater  familias * The 
Roman  family,  as  a legal  unit,  was  based  upon  Patria  Potes- 
tas,  that  is,  it  was  held  together  by  the  unquestioning 
subservience  of  its  members  to  paternal  authority.5  The 
Chinese  family,  on  the  other  hand,  is  founded  simply  upon 
consanguineous  affinity  and  the  perception  of  the  convenience 
and  utility  of  perpetuating  a natural  grouping.  In  the 
small  family,  consisting  of  husband,  wife,  and  children,  the 
husband,  as  a rule,  is  the  Chia-chang.  Upon  his  death,  the 
mother  becomes  the  Chia-chang.  In  case  both  parents  die, 
and  the  surviving  male  children  unanimously  decide  to 
continue  living  together  in  one  family,  the  eldest  brother 
becomes  the  Chia-chang , provided  he  is  deemed  worthy  of 
the  position.  In  brief,  the  qualifications  of  a Chia-chang 
are,  first,  seniority,  irrespective  of  sex,  and,  secondly,  char- 
acter and  ability. 

The  order  in  which  members  of  a large  family  may  be- 
come the  Chia-chang  is  as  follows : grandfather,  grand- 

mother, great  paternal  uncles,  their  wives,  father,  mother, 
paternal  uncles,  their  wives,  elder  brothers,  their  wives.8 

4 Married  daughters  are  not  counted  because  they  belong  to  their 
husbands’  families. 

5 See  Maine,  Ancient  Law , pp.  133-138,  et  seq.  and  McLennan, 
The  Patriarchal  Theory f chap.  I. 

r Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  88,  and  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article 
1324. 


THE  GENERAL  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  49 


The  succession  of  Chinese  family  headship  is  therefore  quite 
different  from  English  primogeniture.  In  case  the  legal 
Chia-chang  declines  to  manage  the  family  affairs,  either 
because  of  old  age  or  for  some  other  reason,  his  legal  succes- 
sor takes  his  place.7 * 9  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  legal 
successor  to  the  position  of  Chia-chang  is  very  young.  His 
immaturity  is  regarded  as  a disqualification  and  an  older 
member  of  the  family,  next  in  succession,  takes  his  place.* 
This  happens  where,  for  instance,  the  eldest  paternal  uncle 
is  younger  than  his  eldest  nephew,  which  is  not  infrequently 
the  case  in  large  families. 

The  rights  and  obligations  of  the  Chia-chang  are  note- 
worthy. First  of  all,  as  head  of  the  family,  he  is  responsible 
for  the  proper  conduct  of  all  domestic  affairs  while  his 
seniority  confers  upon  him  a peculiar  honor  and  distinction 
and  entitles  him  to  reasonable  obedience  from  his  juniors. 
Under  the  ancient  system  he  was  directly  responsible  for  the 
good  behavior  of  every  member  of  the  family,10  but  has  now 
been  relieved  of  this  burden  and  with  it,  of  course,  the 
right  to  inflict  punishment  except  upon  his  own  children. 
As  executive  and  financial  head  of  the  family,  he  has  the 
right  to  compel  all  members  to  turn  their  entire  earnings 

7 Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1325. 

sIMd,  Article  1326. 

9 Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1327. 

i°  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  75.  Formerly  “when  a family  has 
omitted  to  make  a required  entry  in  the  public  register,  the  Chia- 
chang  of  the  family,  possessing,  or  not,  any  lands  chargeable  with 
contributions  to  the  public  revenue,  shall  be  punished  . . . When 
the  Chia-chang  of  the  family  has  among  his  household  strangers 
who  constitute,  in  fact,  a distinct  family,  but  omits  to  make  a 
corresponding  entry  in  the  public  register,  or  registers  them  as 
members  of  his  own  family,  he  shall  be  punished  ...  If  the 
Chia-chang  of  a family  omits  to  enter  in  the  public  register  any 
of  the  males  belonging  thereto,  who  have  attained  the  full  age 
of  sixteen,  or  falsely  represents  any  individual  thereof  to  be  under 
age,  aged,  infirm  or  decrepit,  so  as  to  evade  their  liability  to  the 
public  service,  he  shall  be  punished  . . .”  See  also  sec.  “Evasion 


50 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


into  the  common  purse11  to  be  used  for  the  current  expenses 
of  the  whole  family.  He  has  the  additional  right  to  keep 
in  the  common  treasury  all  incomes  from  the  family  estates, 
but  is  not  empowered  to  dispose  of  any  part  of  the  family 
property  for  any  purpose  save  the  wTelfare  of  the  whole 
family,  nor  arbitrarily  to  divide  the  property  among  the 
members  of  the  family.1'  He  must  care  for  and  disburse 
the  funds  in  a way  that  will  insure  the  support  and  mainte- 
nance of  the  whole  family.  In  view  of  his  grave  responsi- 
bility for  the  family’s  welfare,  both  the  old  and  new  law 
gives  him  the  sole  right  to  admit,  or  to  refuse  admission  to, 
new  members.13  If  he  rules,  it  is  in  the  family’s  interest;  if 
he  is  lord  of  the  family  possessions,  he  holds  them  in  trust 
for  each  and  every  member.  The  family,  in  fact,  is  a cor- 
poration and  the  Chia-chang  is  its  manager.  It  is  quite 
obvious  that  his  position  is  not  at  all  similar  to  that  of  the 
father  in  a Western  family;  much  less  does  his  power 
resemble  the  Roman  patria  potestas.  The  Chia-chang  has 
no  parental  power  over  the  members  of  the  family  unless 
they  be  his  own  children.  The  relation  between  the  Chia- 
chang  and  the  members  of  the  family  he  governs  is  recipro- 
cal ; his  obligations,  indeed,  are  more  numerous  than  his 
rights. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  Chia-chang,  a family  may  break  up 
if  there  be  no  one  who  will  take  his  place  and  assume 
management  of  the  family’s  affairs.  A family  may  also  be 

of  Personal  Service,”  and  explanatory  note  to  sec.  “Fraudulent 
Evasion  of  the  Land  Tax.”  All  these  legal  responsibilities  of  the 
Chia-chang  for  the  members  of  the  family  are  no  longer  effective 
in  the  new  law. 

11  Provisional  Civil  Code.  Article  1331. 

12  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee.  sec.  88,  second  clause:  “If,  upon  the  division 
of  the  patrimony  among  junior  members  of  the  family,  the  Chia- 
chang  makes  an  unjust  or  partial  division,  he  shall  be  likewise 
liable  to  the  same  punishment”  as  would  be  imposed  upon  the 
junior  members. 

11  Provisional  Civil  Code.  Article  1329.  Cf.  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee , 
secs.  82  and  75. 


THE  GENERAL  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  51 


dissolved  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Chia-chang  if  all  the 
members,  or  all  the  sons,  desire  to  establish  separate  families, 
provided  that  permission  is  first  obtained  from  the  Chia- 
chang .14  When  the  eldest  brother  is  the  Chia-chang  such 
permission  is  not  required.14 

DIVISION  OF  FAMILY  PROPERTY 

The  break-up  of  a family  necessitates,  of  course,  a division 
of  the  family  property.  Division  of  family  property  in 
China  is  not  so  complicated  as  in  Western  countries,  but 
the  task  is  by  no  means  an  easy  one.  Where  the  family 
comprises  several  generations,  and  for  years  the  property 
has  been  held  in  a common  fund,  disputes  arise  upon  division 
and  their  amicable  settlement  taxes  the  ingenuity  and  jus- 
tice of  the  ablest  judges. 

Let  us  take,  in  illustration,  an  imaginary  family  consist- 
ing, before  the  division  of  the  family  property,  of  the 
persons  indicated  in  the  following  diagram: 

Father  (A)  Mother  (B) 

Eldest  Son  Second  Son  Third  Son  Fourth  Son  Fifth  Son 
(C)  (D)  (E)  (F)  (by  concubine) 

— — — —(G) 

(C)  2 grandsons  and  2 grand-daughters;  (D)  3 grandsons,  one 
of  them  illegitimate,  H.,  I.  and  J.;  (E)  2 grandsons,  one  adopted 
and  one  illegitimate,  K.  and  L. ; (F)  none;  (G)  1 grandson  and 
1 granddaughter. 

The  principles  of  division  of  the  family  property  are  as 
follows : 

1.  If,  during  the  lifetime  of  the  parents,  some,  or  all,  of 
the  sons  desire  to  divide  the  property  and  establish  separate 
families  for  themselves,  permission  must  first  be  obtained 
from  the  parents.18  The  father  usually  has  more  to  say  in 
the  matter.  If  both  parents  consent,  the  family  property, 

M Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1323. 

15  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1323;  cf.  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee, 
secs.  87  and  88. 


52 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


less  a reasonable  amount  (not  specified  in  the  law)  for  the 
subsistence  of  the  parents  for  the  rest  of  their  lives,  is 
divided  equally1'  among  all  the  sons,  C,  D,  E,  F,  and  G, 
regardless  of  the  number  of  children  each  son  may  have. 
In  a word,  the  division  of  the  fatuity  property  is  per  stirpes 
and  not  per  capita. 

If  the  division  takes  place  after  the  death  of  the  father, 
permission1  must  first  be  obtained  from  the  mother,  unless 
the  last  will  of  the  deceased  orders  otherwise,  which  has 
happened  very  rarely  in  China.  The  division  is  then  as 
described  above.  When  the  family  has  dissolved,  the  mother 
goes  to  live  with  one  of  her  sons,  usually  the  eldest.  The 
son  who  is  to  receive  her,  as  a common  practice,  receives, 
at  the  time  of  the  division  of  the  family  property,  a por- 
tion18 in  addition  to  his  legal  share  for  the  care  of  the 
mother. 

2.  Suppose  that  the  division  of  the  family  property 
takes  place  after  the  death  of  both  parents,  and  that  the 
value  of  the  property  is  $25,000.  Suppose,  further,  that  at 
the  time  of  division  (D),  (E),  (F)  and  (G)  are  dead.  (D) 
leaves  two  sons,  (H)  and  (I),  and  one  illegitimate  son,  (J) ; 
(E)  leaves  one  adopted  son,  (K),  and  one  illegitimate  son, 
(L)  ; (F)  had  no  children  and  is  survived  only  by  his  wife; 
while  (G)  leaves  his  wife,  one  son  and  one  daughter.  The 
division  of  the  family  property  according  to  law  is  as 
follows : 

(C)  receives  one-fifth  of  the  property,  $5,000,  since  he  is 
one  of  his  father’s  five  sons. 

18  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1474;  cf.  also  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee , 
sec.  88,  second  clause. 

17  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1463. 

18  Chinese  law  does  not  specify  what  amount  of  the  family  prop- 

erty shall  go  to  the  mother  for  her  life  subsistence.  However, 
the  law  and  immemorial  custom  require  that  children  shall 
take  care  of  th°ir  parents  even  when  the  latter  have  no  property, 
under  penalty  of  servitude  from  ten  years  to  life:  Provisional 

Civil  Code . Article  1450.  Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China. 
Articles  339,  340.  Also  see  infra,  pp.,  79  and  80. 


THE  GENERAL  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  53 


(D)  ’s  legal  portion,  $5,000,  goes  to  his  children  and  would 
be  divided  among  them  equally  except  that  one  of  his 
children,  (J),  is  illegitimate.  According  to  the  law,19  an 
illegitimate  son  shall  receive  only  one-half  of  the  portion 
due  a legal  heir.  Therefore,  (H)  and  (I)  each  receives, 
$2,000,  while  (J),  being  illegitimate,  receives  only  $1,000. 

(E) ’s  legal  portion,  $5,000,  is  divided  equally  between 
his  adopted  son  and  his  illegitimate  son,  for  the  law'0  gives 
an  illegitimate  son  the  same  rights  of  inheritance  as  an 
adopted  son.  (Reasons  can  be  found  in  the  remark  ac- 
companying Article  1475,  Provisional  Civil  Code.) 

(F)  is  survived  only  by  his  wife.  His  legal  portion, 
$5,000,  therefore  goes  to  her,  provided  she  is  not  going  to 
marry  again."1 

(G) ,  although  he  was  a son  by  his  father’s  concubine, 
has  the  same  rights  of  inheritance  as  any  legitimate  son." 
Since  he  is  survived  by  his  wife  and  children,  his  legal 
portion,  $5,000,  therefore  goes  to  them. 

It  should  be  noted  here  that  if  there  is  an  unmarried 
daughter,  she  may  claim  a certain  sum  (not  prescribed  by 
law"9)  for  marriage  expenses,  or  a “ marriage  portion”, 
from  the  family  property  before  it  is  divided  up  among 
her  brothers.  When  the  family  has  dissolved,  she  usually 
takes  her  “ marriage  portion”  and  goes  to  live  with  one  of 
her  brothers,  usually  the  eldest,  who,  upon  the  division  of 
the  family  property,  customarily  receives  an  extra  portion 
for  her  support.  Married  daughters,  regarded  as  members 
of  their  husbands’  families,  are,  of  course,  excluded  from 
inheritance. 


19  Provisional  Civil  Code , Article  1474. 

20  Ibid,  Article  1475. 

21  Ibid,  Article  1467. 


22  Ibid,  Article  1474;  cf.  also 
clause. 

ss  See  infra . p.  83. 


Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  88,  second 


CHAPTER  V 


Chinese  Marriage 

The  institution  of  marriage,  like  human  society,  cannot 
be  defined  with  precision.  According  to  the  ancient  Jewish 
conception,  marriage  is  a union  of  man  and  woman  into 
“one  flesh”,  and  its  object,  to  make  for  man  an  “help- 
meet”."4 Christ  himself  had  this  conception  of  marriage.25 
According  to  the  canonical  theory,  which  was  probably  de- 
rived from  the  Bible,  marriage  is  a state  in  which  “a  man 
and  woman  have  become  one  flesh”."7  The  Christian  church 
believes  that  marriage  is  a sacrament  having  “three  char- 
acters, sancity,  unity,  and  perpetuity”,""  and  its  “primary 
end”  is  “giving  God  new  worshippers”.2*  The  conception 
of  marriage  embodied  in  classical  Roman  law  is  ‘ ‘ exceedingly 
noble”:  “Marriage  is  the  union  of  man  and  woman,  and 
the  inseparable  association  of  their  lives  ’ ’ and  * ‘ marriage 

is  the  union  of  a man  and  a woman,  the  association  of  their 
lives,  the  combination  of  rights  divine  and  human”.30  Ac- 
cording to  Bentham,  “marriage  represents  to  the  generality 
of  men  the  only  means  of  satisfying  fully  and  peacefully 

24  Holy  Bible.  Genesis,  2:18-25. 

23  Ibid.  Matthew,  19:4-6;  Mark,  10:6-8. 

27  Pollock  and  Maitland,  History  of  English  Law , vol.  II,  pp.  3 
and  68. 

“ Devas,  Studies  of  Family  Life t pp.  145-6. 

29  Justin  Inst.,  lib.  I tit.  IX,  1.  Nuptiae  autem,  sive  matrimonium 
est  viri  et  mulieris  conjunctio,  individuam  vitae  consuetudinem  con- 
tinens. 

80  Dig.  lib..  XXIII,  tit.  II.,  1.  Nuptiae  sunt  conjunctio  mari  et 
feminae,  consortium  omnis  vitae,  divini  et  humani  juris  communi- 
catio.  (These  two  notes  are  taken  from  Fulton,  The  Laws  of 
Marriage,  pp.  19  and  20.) 


54 


CHINESE  MARRIAGE 


56 


the  imperious  desires  of  love”.31  Starcke  says  that  marriage, 
in  the  widest  sense,  is  “only  a connection  between  man  and 
woman  which  is  of  more-  than  momentary  duration,  and  as 
long  as  it  endures  they  seek  for  subsistence  in  common  ’ \ “ 
Professor  Westermarck,  writing  “from  a scientific  point  of 
view”,  says,  “marriage  is  nothing  else  than  a more  or  less 
durable  connection  between  male  and  female,  lasting  beyond 
the  mere  act  of  propagation  till  after  the  birth  of  the  off- 
spring  . 

The  ancient  Chinese  conception  of  marriage  is  different 
from  any  of  these.  Confucius  summarizes  it  as  follows: 
“Marriage  is  the  union  (of  the  representatives)  of  two 
different  surnames,  in  friendship  and  love,  in  order  to  continue 
the  posterity  of  former  sages,  and  to  produce  those  who  shall 
preside  at  the  sacrifices  to  heaven  and  earth,  at  the  sacrifices 
in  the  ancestral  temples  and  at  the  altars  to  the  spirit  of 
the  land  and  the  grain”.34  Such  a conception  seems  com- 
patible with  the  highest  ethical  standards  of  modern  times.5" 

This  ancient  conception  of  marriage  still  prevails  in  China. 
The  Chinese  people  look  upon  the  institution  of  marriage 
as  inviolable,  because  it  is  the  basis  of  civilized  society. 
“The  way  of  the  superior  man  begins  in  the  relationship 
between  man  and  woman”.37  From  the  social  point  of 

11  Bentham,  Theory  of  Legislation , pt.  Ill,  chap.  V “Of  Mar- 
riage,” sec.  II,  passim. 

K Primitive  Family  in  Its  Origin  and  Development , p.  13. 

" History  of  Human  Marriage , pp.  19  and  20. 

“ Li  Ki  (Translation  by  James  Legge),  bk.  XLI,  p.  428;  bk. 
XXIV,  p.  264. 

*a  According  to  Ellwood,  “The  primary  function  of  the  family  is 
continuing  the  life  of  the  species;  that  is,  the  primary  function  of 
the  family  is  reproduction  in  the  sense  of  the  birth  and  rearing 
of  children.  ...  At  least  we  know  of  no  human  society  in  which 
the  birth  and  rearing  of  children  has  not  been  the  essential  func- 
tion of  the  family.  From  the  sociological  point  of  view  the  child- 
less family  is  a failure.” — Sociology  and  Modern  Social  Problems. — 
chap.  Ill;  also  see  the  references  given  at  the  end  of  this  chapter, 
and  Gillette.  The  Family  and  Society . p.  2. 

17  The  Doctrine  of  Mean  (Confucian  analects),  chap.  XII,  sec.  4. 


56 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


view,  marriage  is  deemed  important  because  it  is  the 
source  of  future  generations.  “By  the  united  action  of 
heaven  and  earth  all  things  originate ; the  ceremony  of  mar- 
riage is  the  beginning  of  a line  that  shall  last  for  a myriad 
of  ages”.38  “If  the  ceremony  of  marriage  were  discontinued, 
the  lives  of  husband  and  wife  would  be  embittered,  and 
there  would  be  licentiousness  and  depravity”.33 

Because  of  the  importance  and  solemnity  of  marriage  in 
China,  there  are  stringent  marriage  requirements,  which 
were  first  prescribed  and  enforced  by  custom  and  afterwards 
incorporated  in  written  codes  of  law.  First  of  all  is  the 
requirement  of  parental  consent  which  has  existed  in  China 
since  the  Chow  dynasty.40  The  present  Provisional  Civil  Code, 
Article  1338,  says:  “The  consent  of  parents  is  required  for 
every  marriage”.  The  reasons  for  this  requirement,  given 
in  the  explanatory  note  to  that  article,  are  substantially  as 
follows : Marriage  is  one  of  the  most  important  matters  in 
one’s  life.  It  must  be  considered  with  great  care  before 
the  contract  of  marriage  is  entered  into.  Young  people, 
owing  to  their  lack  of  experience  and  their  consequent  in- 
capability of  appreciating  and  weighing  the  importance  of 
their  own  actions,  cannot  be  trusted  to  make  reasonable  or 
desirable  choices.  Therefore,  the  consent  of  parents,  based 
upon  experience  and  love,  is  necessary.  Moreover,  under 
the  present  family  system,  a son  after  marriage  usually 
lives  with  his  bride  in  the  home  of  his  parents.  The  impor- 
tance of  preserving  unity  and  peace  within  the  family 
circle  makes  the  advice  of  parents  essential  to  the  happy  and 
successful  marriage  of  their  son. 

There  is  one  exception  to  this  general  rule.  In  case  the 
parental  power  is  exercised  by  step-parents  or  foster-parents, 
and  they  willfully  refuse  to  give  their  consent  to  a legal 
marriage,  the  son  or  daughter,  as  the  case  may  be,  may  get 

38  Li  Ki.  (James  Legge’s  translation)  vol.  I,  p.  439 

*9IMd,  bk.  XXIII,  p.  259. 

40  Ibid,  bk.  XXVII,  sec.  33;  see  also  supra,  p.  40. 


CHINESE  MARRIAGE 


57 


married  without  parental  consent,  provided  the  family  council 
approves.41 

Formerly  there  was  a Chu-hun  (literally  translated,  Mas- 
ter of  Marriage)  for  each  of  the  two  families  concerned  in 
every  marriage.  The  old  law  code  holds  that  the  real  con- 
tracting parties  are  the  Chu-huns  of  the  two  families,  and 
not  the  prospective  bride  and  bridegroom.  The  Chu-huns 
were  responsible  for  all  the  legal  arrangements  and  compli- 
cations of  a marriage ; if  the  law  was  violated,  the  penalty 
fell  upon  them,  not  upon  the  engaged  couple.4'  The  choice 
of  the  Chu-hun  was  determined  by  seniority  and  the  degree 
of  relationship  to  the  betrothed.  If  the  paternal  grandparents 
of  the  prospective  bridegroom  were  living,  the  grandfather 
was  invariably  the  Chu-hun.  If  he  had  no  paternal  grand- 
father, his  paternal  grandmother,  not  his  father,  acted  as 
Chu-hun.  Only  when  his  own  parents  were  the  seniors  of 
the  family  could  they  act  as  Chu-huns.  If  none  of  the  lineal 
ascendants  were  living,  succession  to  the  position  of  Chu-hun 
was  in  the  following  order:  paternal  uncle,  aunt  (wife  of 
paternal  uncle),  paternal  aunt  (father’s  sister),  elder  brother, 
elder  sister-in-law,  elder  sister,  maternal  grandfather,  mater- 
nal grandmother.  Failing  all  these,  and  this  very  rarely 
happened,  any  of  the  more  distant  relations  could  act  as 
Chu-hun.™ 

The  present  Provisional  Civil  Code , however,  makes  no 
provision  for  a Chu-hun,  and  the  Chinese  people  are  rapidly 
adjusting  themselves  to  the  new  law  which  requires  only  that, 
if  the  parents  be  living,  their  consent  shall  be  obtained  before 
the  marriage  contract431*  is  made,  otherwise  the  marriage  may 

41  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1338. 

42  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  bk.  Ill,  “Marriage,”  particularly  sections 
107  and  117. 

4*  Ibid. 

4s»  por  sample  of  Chinese  marriage  contract  see  “A  Pair  of  Chinese 
Marriage  Contracts.”  T'oung  Pao  Archives,  5 and  suppl.,  pp.  372, 
et  seq.  This,  however,  is  an  old  form  and  is  somewhat  different 
from  the  form  being  used  today. 


S8 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


be  null  and  void.  The  contracting  parties  are  the  prospective 
bride  and  bridegroom,  not  their  parents,  and  if  the  marriage 
is  contrary  to  law  the  engaged  couple  is  jointly  responsible. 

Another  ancient  marriage  requirement,  already  described, 
was  that  the  proposals  of  marriage  should  be  made  by  a 
go-between,44  who  might  be  either  a man  or  a woman.  (If 
a man,  he  was  called  mei-jen ; if  a woman,  mei-p’o.)  The 
explanatory  note  to  the  section  of  the  old  law  code  specify- 
ing this  requirement,  says  that  a marriage  contract  made 
without  a go-between  is  a private  agreement,  and  that  the 
law  will  consider  it  as  such.45  Thus  a marriage  under  the 
old  regime  without  the  go-between  had  no  legal  sanction. 

The  custom  of  conducting  the  preliminaries  of  marriage 
through  the  agency  of  a go-between  is  very  ancient  and  is 
still  observed  to  a great  extent  in  China.  Some  foreign 
observers  hold  that  it  is  a survival  of  marriage  by  purchase. 
Their  inferences,  whether  true  or  false,  are  of  little  import. 
As  far  as  our  knowledge  goes,  the  go-between  originated  in 
China  during  the  Chow  dynasty,  1122-1255,  B.  C.  The  Chow 
Le  (a  sort  of  law  code  of  the  Chow  dynasty)  tells  us  that 
in  that  period  there  was  a department  established  by  the 
government  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  marriage.  It 
was  under  the  direction  of  an  officer  called  Mei-shi.  The 
function  of  this  department  was  to  see  that  marriages 
among  the  people  were  properly  arranged  and  conducted, 
that  proper  relations  were  observed  between  the  sexes,  and, 
in  addition,  to  serve  as  a sort  of  matrimonial  agency.  Every 
marriage  in  that  time  had  to  be  reported  to  this  department 
and  its  propriety  under  the  existing  laws  and  customs  passed 
upon.  For  some  reason  this  department  was  not  continued 
by  the  governments  of  later  periods ; but  doubtless  during 
its  existence  it  had  taught  the  people  that  a go-between 
was  a desirable  agency  both  for  marriage  and  society.  Thus 
out  of  governmental  control  of  marriage  there  evolved  the 

44  See  supra,  p.  40. 

45  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee , sec.  101;  see  explanatory  note  to  this  sec- 
tion in  the  Chinese  text;  also  see  Li  Ki.  bk.  XXVII,  passim. 


CHINESE  MARRIAGE 


59 


private  matchmaker.  The  terms  mei-jen  and  mei-p’o,  mean- 
ing, respectively,  male  and  female  go-between,  are  derived 
from  Mei-shi,  the  title  of  the  directing  officer  of  the  ancient 
governmental  agency. 

The  Provisional  Civil  Code  provides  only  that  every  mar- 
riage shall  be  registered  at  the  office  of  the  local  magistrate, 
otherwise  it  may  be  voidable.46  The  general  tendency  of  the 
Chinese  people  is  to  follow  the  new  law  implicitly,  and  the 
custom  of  employing  a go-between  is  fast  disappearing. 

Marriage  under  compulsion  or  misrepresentation  was  also 
a violation  of  the  old  Chinese  law.  For  every  marriage  the 
mutual  consent  of  the  two  families  was  required.4'  “If 
either  the  intended  husband  or  wife  is  deformed  or  afflicted 
with  an  incurable  disease,  or  is  aged,  or  a minor,  or  the 
offspring  of  a concubine,  or  a formally  adopted  child  of  the 
same  kindred,  or  one  informally  adopted  of  a different  sur- 
name, these  facts  must  be  fully  communicated  to  the  other 
side.  If  both  parties  are  agreeable,  then  the  go-between 
shall  draw  up  a formal  contract  and  the  betrothal  shall  be 
made  according  to  the  customary  rites’’.47 

The.  present  Provisional  Civil  Code  follows  this  old  law 
in  principle  and  spirit.  The  only  difference  is  that  the 
Provisional  Civil  Code  recognizes  the  two  individuals  directly 
concerned  as  the  contracting  parties,  instead  of  their 
families.4* 

Besides  these  general  requirements,  there  is  a list  of  mar- 
riage prohibitions : 

(1)  A male  before  the  age  of  eighteen  and  a female 
before  the  age  of  sixteen  cannot  marry.48  The  attainment 
of  puberty  as  a legally  prescribed  prerequisite  of  marriage, 
was  not  known  in  China  before  the  enactment  of  the  Pro- 
visional Civil  Code ; but  early  marriage  has  never  been  as 
common  or  as  popular  among  the  Chinese  as  has  been  gen- 

48  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1339. 

47  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee.  secs.  101  and  117. 

48  Provisional  Civil  Code.  Articles  1341  and  1340. 

49  Ibid.  Article  1332. 


60 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


e rally  supposed.  The  Chinese  have  always  emphasized  the 
importance  of  marrying  at  a suitable  age,  and,  as  Li  Ki 
points  out,  the  ancient  custom  of  a man  marrying  at  thirty 
and  a woman  at  twenty10  has  greatly  influenced  the  law- 
makers of  later  generations.  Of  course,  marriage  often  takes 
place  before  these  ages ; but  the  Chinese  people  abhor  mar- 
riages in  which  there  is  a great  disparity  of  age,  and  the 
marriage  of  a young  girl  to  an  old  man  or  of  a young  man 
to  an  old  woman  is  very  rare.51 

The  betrothal  of  unborn  children  is  also  forbidden.52  Even 
the  law  code  of  the  late  Manchu  regime  expressly  states : 
‘‘The  practice  of  betrothing  unborn  children,  which  is  done 
by  cutting  off  and  exchanging  a piece  of  the  garment,  is 
declared  illegal’ V3 

(2)  Marriage  between  relations,  including  the  wives,  concu- 
bines or  widows  of  said  relations,  of  all  degrees  of  blood 
relationship  through  males,  is  prohibited.54  This  prohibition 
also  prevents  marriage  between  half-brothers  and  half- 
sisters,  that  is,  between  persons  who  have  a common  father 
or  a common  mother.  Marriage  is  permitted,  however,  be- 
tween maternal  blood  relations,  even  as  close  as  first  cousins, 
provided  the  bride  and  bridegroom  are  of  the  same  genera- 
tion. Thus  one  may  marry  his  first  cousin  on  his  mother’s 
side,  but  not  the  daughter  of  this  cousin.54  All  marriages 
contrary  to  these  prohibitions,  no  matter  how  formally  and 
solemnly  concluded,  are  considered  incestuous,  and  therefore 
void  and  subject  to  criminal  punishment.  The  importance 


50  Li  Ei,  (Legge’s  translation)  vol.  XXVII,  p.  478. 

51  “The  Family  Law  of  the  Chinese.”  China  Branch  of  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  N.  S.  vol.  XXVII,  pp.  131-189,  passim. 

SJ  Provisional  Civil  Code.  Article  1332. 

33  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee.  bk.  Ill,  “Marriage.” 

54  Provisional  Civil  Code.  Article  1334;  also  see  Ta-Tsing  Leu 
Lee.  sec.  109. 


CHINESE  MARRIAGE 


61 


of  this  prohibition  is  attested  by  the  severity  of  the  penalty 
inflicted  by  law  upon  those  who  ignore  it.°° 

(3)  Persons  of  the  same  surname,  descended  through 
males  from  a common  ancestor,  no  matter  how  remote,  can- 
not intermarry.50  This  prohibition  also  includes  persons  of 
different  surnames,  but  descended  from  the  same  ancestor, 
as  in  cases  of  adoption  or  where  the  surname  has  been 
changed  by  legal  process.  Public  opinion  of  all  times  has 
been  strongly  against  marriage  between  individuals  of  the 
same  surname,  as  witness  the  old  proverb:  “Not  to  avoid 
the  same  surname  in  marriage  gives  occasion  for  talk 57 
In  view  of  the  small  number  of  different  surnames  in 
China,08  with  a population  of  not  less  than  300,000,- 
000,  the  prohibition  of  marriage  between  persons  of  the 
same  surname  is  quite  severe.  The  only  exception  is  that 
two  persons  of  the  same  surname  may  marry  if  their  ances- 
try can  be  traced  back  to  two  distinct  origins.  This  exception, 
however,  has  little  effect  as  there  are  only  a few  identical 
surnames  in  China  of  different  origin.  Despite  the  severity 
of  this  marriage  restriction,  there  is  much  to  commend  it. 
It  prevents  whatever  biological  degeneracy  may  be  the  sequel 
of  excessive  endogamy. 

55  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1332;  also  see  Ta-Tsing  Leu 
Lee,  secs.  108  and  109.  However,  this  prohibition  does  not  apply 
to  marriage  between  relations  by  marriage  or  adoption  if  the 
relationship  has  been  broken  by  divorce  or  by  abrogation  of  adop- 
tion. It  may  also  be  noted  here  that  marriage  between  a man 
and  his  deceased  wife’s  sister  is  not  prohibited. 

58  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1333,  and  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee , 
sec.  107. 

57  Giles,  Chinese  Dictionary. 

58  The  Family  Surnames,  published  at  the  beginning  of  Suey 
dynasty  (960-1127  A.  D.)  contains  438  single  and  30  double-sur- 
names, and  they  are  supposed  to  be  the  number  of  surnames 
existing  in  China  at  that  time.  Giles’  investigation  sometime  ago 
showed  2.150  surnames  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  there  may  be 
a few  more  in  China  at  the  present  time.  See  Giles,  Chinese 
Dictionary. 


62 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


(4)  Married  persons  cannot  marry  a second  time  unless 
the  first  marriage  has  been  legally  dissolved.5*  Here  again 
the  importance  of  the  prohibition  is  attested  by  the  severity 
of  the  penalty  inflicted  by  law  upon  persons  who  violate  it.6* 

(5)  A woman  cannot  remarry  within  ten  months  after 
divorce,61  unless  she  gives  birth  to  a child  before  the  expira- 
tion of  that  time.  The  purpose  of  this  prohibition,  as  stated 
in  the  note  to  the  legal  article,  is,  obviously,  to  prevent  any 
uncertainty  as  to  the  child’s  parentage. 

(6)  Every  marriage  must  be  registered  at  the  office  of 
the  local  magistrate  before  it  is  valid.82 

(7)  Marriage  concluded  through  fraud,  deception,  or 
duress  is  voidable.'3  Exception  is  noted  where  the  fraud  was 
perpetrated  by  a third  party,  such  as  a go-between,  or  where 
the  fraud  involves  only  matters  of  property.  For  instance, 
if  A marries  B because  B claims  to  have  a certain  amount 
of  property,  but  after  marriage  A discovers  that  B has  not 
the  property,  the  fraud  is  not  a ground  for  the  annulment 
of  marriage.64 

M Provisional  Civil  Code , Article  1335,  and  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee , 
secs.  103  and  116,  fourth  clause. 

60  The  old  law  code  provides  that  if  a man  marries  a second 
time  while  his  first  wife  is  still  living,  he  shall  be  liable  to  be  pun- 
ished with  90  blows,  and  the  parties  shall  be  separated.  If  a wife 
run  away  without  the  consent  of  her  husband  and  marry  another 
man,  she  shall  be  liable  to  the  penalty  of  death.  See  Ta-Tsing  Leu 
Lee , ibid. 

The  new  Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China  (pt.  II,  chap. 
XXIII,  Article  291)  says:  ‘'Any  person  who  commits  bigamy  shall 
be  liable  to  penal  servitude  for  a term  of  the  fifth  degree  (1  to  2 
years),  or  to  confinement;  the  party  who  knows  such  person  to  be 
a married  man  or  woman  and  who  nevertheless  consents  to  the 
bigamous  marriage  shall  incur  the  same  punishment.” 

61  Provisional  Civil  Code , Article  1336. 

62  Ibid,  Article  1339. 

® Ibid,  Article  1345;  also  see  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  secs.  101  and 
117. 

64  Provisional  Civil  Code  note  to  Article  1345. 


CHINESE  MARRIAGE 


63 


(8)  Any  person,  husband  or  wife,  who  commits  adultery 
is  forbidden  to  marry  the  participator  in  adultery,  even  after 
he  or  she  has  been  legally  divorced.63  From  the  modern  point 
of  view  this  prohibition  may  be  regarded  as  cruel  to  the 
individuals  directly  concerned,  but  for  the  stabilization  of 
marriage  and  family  life  and  for  the  security  and  welfare 
of  the  children,  it  is  to  be  highly  commended. 

According  to  ancient  custom  every  respectable  marriage 
had  six  rites.  They  were:  (1)  Na-ts’ai,  giving  choice  to  the 
girl’s  family;  (2)  T’ung-keng,  exchanging  names  and  dates 
of  birth  of  the  man  and  girl;  (3)  Na-chi,  announcing  the 
favorable  result  of  divination;  (4)  Na-pi,  giving  silk  to  the 
girl’s  family;  (5)  Ch’ing-chi,  requesting  that  a date  be  set 
for  the  wedding;  (6)  Chin-yin,  reception  of  the  bride  by  the 
bridegroom.66 

At  present  only  three  of  these  marriage  rites  are  observed 
in  China.  They  are:  (1)  Na-ts’ai,  a combination  of  the  an- 
cient rites  (1)  and  (2) ; (2)  Na-pi,  a combination  of  the 
ancient  rites  (3),  (4)  and  (5)  ; and  (3)  the  wedding.67 

In  Western  countries  a marriage  is  generally  concluded 
with  the  wedding  ceremony,  but  in  China  one  of  the  most 
important  parts  of  the  marriage  is  the  wedding  feast  which 
follows  it.  It  is,  indeed,  regarded  as  socially  indispensable. 
The  number  of  invitations  sent  out  and  the  quality  of  the 
feast  may,  of  course,  vary  with  the  social  and  financial  posi- 
tion of  the  bridegroom’s  family,  but  the  feast  itself  cannot 
be  omitted.  Regarding  the  significance  of  the  marriage 
feast,  Li  Ki  says : ‘ ‘ The  bridegroom  should  give  a feast  and 
invite  his  friends  and  the  people  of  the  town  in  order  to 
emphasize  the  importance  of  the  distinction  between  the 
positions  of  man  and  woman”.68  In  practice  the  bride’s 

86  Ibid,  Article  1337;  also  see  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee . sec.  117. 

“Li  Ki  (Legge’s  translation),  bk.  XVIII,  p.  172. 

87  For  information  concerning  the  marriage  rites  and  the  wed- 
ding ceremony  now  being  observed  in  China,  see  Useful  Informa- 
tion on  Subjects  of  Daily  Reference  (in  Chinese),  vol.  I,  bk.  II, 
published  by  Chinese  Republican  Book  Publishers,  Shanghai. 

88  Li  Ki , bk.  I,  p.  78. 


64 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


family  always,  or  nearly  always,  also  prepares,  on  or  before 
the  wedding  day,  a feast  to  which  friends  and  relatives  are  in- 
vited. It  is  noteworthy  that  neither  the  marriage  feast  nor 
the  wedding  ceremony  is  required  by  law.  They  are  only 
definitely  prescribed  and  closely  observed  customs. 

The  many  requirements  and  the  intricate  process  of  con- 
cluding a marriage  show  how  important  the  Chinese  con- 
sider the  marital  relationship. 


CHAPTER  VI 


The  Relation  of  Husband  and  Wife 

As  far  as  our  knowledge  goes,  there  was,  before  the  enact- 
ment of  the  present  Provisional  Civil  Code,  no  clear  and 
complete  legal  definition  of  the  status  of  husband  and  wife 
in  China  and  of  their  relationship  to  each  other.  Even  the 
law  code  of  the  late  Tsing  dynasty  contains  only  a few 
scattered  and  inadequate  references  to  the  husband-wife 
relationship.  For  the  most  part,  custom  and  tradition,61’ 
from  the  beginning  of  Chinese  civilization  through  thousands 
of  generations,  determined  the  conjugal  status,  which  now 
for  the  first  time  in  the  social  history  of  China  has  received 
adequate  legal  definition  in  the  new  civil  code. 

The  provisions  of  this  code  can  be  better  understood  by 
comparison  with  the  old  laws  and  customs.  Formerly  the 
wife  was  under  the  guardianship  of  her  husband  and  during 
the  continuance  of  the  union  she  could,  though  sharing  in 
the  rank  and  honor  of  her  husband,70  do  practically  nothing 
without  his  consent.  Even  the  ancient  Chinese  law,71  provid- 
ing that  a husband  guilty  of  adultery  should  be  punished  by 
castration,  was  forgotten  or  intentionally  overlooked  by  the 
lawmakers  of  later  periods  and  the  wife  thus  deprived  of  all 
power  to  demand  conjugal  fidelity  except  through  the  grace 
of  public  opinion.  On  the  other  hand,  if  she  committed 
adultery,  the  law72  pronounced  her  a criminal.  Through  mar- 
riage she  acquired  the  right  to  share  in  the  rank  and  honors 
of  her  husband,  the  right  of  a mother  over  her  children,  the 
right  of  a mistress  in  the  family,  and  the  right  to  inherit 

" These  traditions  and  customs  are  embodied  in  the  Li  Ki. 

70  See  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  103. 

71  See  Shu  King,  pt.  I,  “Canon  of  Shun.” 

72  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  section  on  "Criminal  Intercourse.” 


65 


66 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


her  husband  ’s  property,  rank  or  titles  after  his  death. 75 
Apart  from  these  she  acquired  no  other  conjugal  rights  dur- 
ing her  husband's  lifetime;  and  lost  her  right  of  being  sui 
juris.  She  owed  her  husband  implicit  obedience.  For  no 
reason  could  she  leave  the  family  without  his  consent.  If  he 
chose  to  change  his  place  of  residence  she  was  obliged  to 
follow  him.  If  deserted  by  her  husband,  she  could  not  marry 
again  ‘‘before  the  expiration  of  three  years,  without  first 
obtaining  the  sanction  of  the  local  magistrate",  under  pen- 
alty of  100  blows.  If  she  married  without  observing  all  the 
formalities  and  conventions  deemed  essential  to  respectable 
marriage,  the  law  considered  her  an  adulteress.74 

Being  under  the  guardianship  of  her  husband,  she  had, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  no  right  to  possess  separate  property 
during  the  lifetime  of  her  husband.  At  marriage  everything 
she  possessed,  even  properties  inherited  from  her  parents’ 
families  or  bequeathed  by  relations  subsequent  to  her  mar- 
riage, became  the  property  of  her  husband.7*  Moreover,  the 
husband  was  not  liable  for  any  debt  contracted  by  his  wife 
before  marriage.  If,  for  any  reason,  divorce  included,  she 
left  her  husband’s  family,  she  could  claim  no  part  of  the 
family  property  unless  stipulation  to  that  effect  had  been 
made  in  the  marriage  contract.1’ 

With  all  his  powers  and  privileges  under  the  old  law, 
however,  the  husband  could  not  force  his  wife  into  any  im- 
proper or  immoral  relation,  such  as  prostitution,77  nor  could 
he  degrade  her  to  the  position  of  a concubine  under  pain 
of  100  blows  and  the  necessity  of  restoring  her  immediately 


73  Ibid,  sec.  47. 

™ Ibid,  sec.  116. 

75  In  practice,  however,  the  wife  usually  kept  any  earnings  she 
made  in  outside  work  done  in  the  home;  and  it  was  not  uncommon 
for  the  husband  to  refuse  to  consider  the  gifts  his  wife  received 
from  her  parents  as  his  property. 

-s  Ta.rps[ng  Leu  Lee,  sec.  116. 

n Ibid,  sec.  102. 


THE  RE  LA  TION  OF  HUSBAND  AND  WIFE 


67 


to  her  lawful  position  of  wife.75  Furthermore,  he  could 
under  no  circumstances  marry  again  while  his  wife  was 
living  and  their  union  not  legally  dissolved.” 

In  spite  of  the  relatively  low  position  of  the  wife  under 
the  old  law,  and  particularly  of  the  denial  of  her  right  to 
possess  separate  property,  she  had  a legal,  as  well  as  a 
moral,  claim  to  maintenance  so  long  as  she  was  a wife  and 
remained  in  her  husband’s  family.  Even  after  the  death  of 
her  husband,  who  might  have  left  no  property,  his  relatives 
had  to  support  her  provided  she  remained  unmarried. 

A widow  might  remarry  if  she  so  desired,  but  the  ancient 
traditions  and  customs  exerted  upon  her  a strong  pressure 
to  remain  unmarried.  If  she  did  remarry,  she  forfeited  all 
claim  to  her  first  husband’s  estate  and  the  property  she  had 
added  to  it  by  marriage.  If  she  remained  unmarried  and  in 
her  husband’s  family,  she  inherited  his  titles  and  emoluments 
and  succeeded  to  his  position  in  the  family  organization.7’ 
It  is  well  known  that  the  Chinese  people  have  always  de- 
lighted in  honoring  and  respecting  the  widow.  In  the  old 
days,  the  good  widow  who  had  properly  brought  up  her 
children  to  maturity  and  faithfully  fulfilled  her  other  duties 
received  an  imperial  reward  in  the  form  of  a gateway  or 
arch  erected  in  her  honor  in  the  community  where  she  lived. 
These  gateways  and  arches  are  to  be  seen  in  almost  every 
village  in  China.  The  widow,  moreover,  received  from  the 
family  of  her  deceased  husband  the  greatest  reverence  and 
respect,  particularly  from  her  sons  who  were  compelled  to 
divorce  their  own  wives  if  the  latter  were  disobedient  to 
the  widowed  mother.  As  long  as  she  lived  her  sons  had  no 
right  to  divide  the  family  estate  or  property  among  them- 
selves without  her  consent.80  Provided  she  allowed  them  to  do 
so,  all  the  sons  had  to  contribute  in  some  way  to  her  support, 
under  pain  of  severe  punishment  by  civil  authority.81  Even 

78  Ibid,  sec.  103. 

79  Ibid,  sec.  47. 

80  Ibid,  secs.  88,  87. 

81  Ibid,  sec.  180,  and  The  Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China. 
Article  340. 


68 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


now  it  is  not  uncommon  in  China  to  hear  of  an  aged  widow 
managing  the  family  estate  at  her  home  with  the  assistance  of 
several  sons,  while  the  other  children,  living  in  different 
localities,  receive  their  orders  from  her.  So  much  for  the 
relationship  between  husband  and  wife  under  the  old  regime. 

Theoretically  the  new  code  bases  the  relationship  between 
husband  and  wife  upon  the  authority  of  the  husband  which, 
in  turn,  is  based  upon  the  old  principle  of  Chia-chang 81a ; but 
actually  the  new  code  deprives  the  husband  of  many  powers 
over  his  wife.  It  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  framers  of 
the  new  code  attempted  to  adapt  the  old  theory  of  the  family 
system  to  new  conditions,  and  to  see,  if  we  can,  how  far  they 
succeeded. 

On  the  one  hand  they  recognized  the  importance  of  equal 
rights  to  the  happiness  of  married  life ; while,  on  the  other, 
they  realized  that  an  ancient  institution  like  the  family 
could  not  be  suddenly  or  radically  altered  without  disastrous 
effects  upon  society  as  a whole.  Confronted  by  these  two 
problems,  the  framers  of  the  new  code  endeavored  to  im- 
prove the  status  of  the  wife.  Recognizing  in  principle  the 
equality  of  rights  between  husband  and  wife,  they  tactfully 
explained  away  the  legal  limitations  imposed  upon  the  latter 
in  the  new  code  by  saying  that  these  restrictions  were  not 
prompted  by  any  alleged  natural  inferiority  of  woman, 
such  as  physical  weakness  or  mental  inferiority,  but  by 
the  necessity  of  having  a single  directing  and  controlling 
will  for  the  creation  and  preservation  of  connubial  harmony; 
and,  furthermore,  that  it  was  fitting,  in  view  of  custom  and 
tradition,  that  this  power  be  vested  in  the  husband/'  In 
other  words,  the  new  code  makes  marital  authority,  not  an 
end  in  itself,  but  a means  to  an  end,  namely,  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  family  life,  the  benefits  of  which  accrue  to  the 
wife  not  less  than  to  the  husband. 

Article  27  of  the  new  code  gives  to  the  husband  the  right 
to  permit  or  prevent  his  wife  doing  anything  outside  of  the 

"u  See  supra,  chapter  IV,  pp.  48,  et  seq. 

82  Provisional  Civil  Code , Article  9. 


THE  RELATION  OF  HUSBAND  AND  WIFE 


69 


domestic  routine.  Should  she  neglect  to  obtain  her  hus- 
band’s consent  in  making  a contract  or  agreement  with  any 
other  party,  her  husband  has  a right  to  annul  it.85  This 
general  provision  regarding  marital  power  is  decisive. 

The  new  code,  like  the  old,  gives  to  the  husband  the  right 
to  compel  his  wife  to  live  with  him  and  to  follow  him  where- 
ever  he  chooses  to  take  up  his  residence.54 

Thirdly,  the  husband  has  the  right  to  annul  any  of  his 
wife’s  business  engagements  if,  in  his  judgment,  the  nature 
of  the  employment  is  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  the  home, 
regardless  of  whether  or  not  the  employment  was  secured 
with  his  consent ; but  such  annulment  shall  not  injure  the 
interests  of  the  third  party.59 

Fourthly,  the  husband  is  the  master  of  the  house  and  his 
wife  is  merely  his  representative  when  dealing  with  people 
outside.58 

Fifthly,  if  the  wife  is  not  legally  of  age  (twenty  years), 
the  husband  is  her  guardian.57 

The  new  code  limits  marital  power,  however,  by  granting 
the  wife  the  right  to  act  without  her  husband’s  consent 
under  the  following  conditions : 

1.  When  the  husband’s  interest  is  in  conflict  with  that  of 
the  wife,  or  vice  versa. 

2.  When  the  husband  deserts  his  wife. 

3.  When  the  husband  is  interdicted  or  subject  to  interdict. 

4.  When  the  husband  is  mentally  defective. 

5.  When  the  husband  is  undergoing  penal  servitude  of 
more  than  one  year.55 

6.  When  the  wife  wishes  to  request  the  court  to  order  an 
interdict  upon  her  husband.5* 

88  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1350. 

Mlbid,  Article  1351. 

55  Ibid,  Article  28. 

56  Ibid , Article  1355. 

87  Ibid,  Article  1353. 

" Ibid.  Article  30. 

“ Provisional  Civil  Code . Article  19. 


70 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


In  addition  to  these  rights  the  new  code  grants  the  wife 
the  right  to  possess  separate  property.  All  property  which 
she  owned  before  marriage  and  all  property  bequeathed  to 
her  or  acquired  by  her  after  marriage,  belongs  to  her.90  Her 
husband  may  act  as  administrator  of  such  properties,  making 
investments  therewith  and  applying  the  proceeds  to  the  up- 
keep of  the  family ; but  should  he  show  any  indication  of 
negligence  or  incapacity  to  perform  his  task,  the  wife  may 
apply  for  an  order  from  the  court  depriving  him  of  the 
rights  of  administrator  and  safeguarding  her  property  from 
ruin  at  his  hands.1*1 

Furthermore,  the  wife,  under  the  new  law  code,  has  the 
right  to  annul  any  contract  made  by  her  husband  which 
proves  detrimental  to  their  common  property  or  to  the 
general  welfare  of  the  family,  provided  such  an  annulment 
is  not  an  injustice  to  the  third  party.92 

The  old  idea  that  the  husband  is  the  supporter  and  the 
wife  the  supported  has  no  place  in  the  new  code  which  is 
based  upon  the  principle  of  conjugal  equality.  The  wife 
bears  as  much  responsibility  for  the  support  of  the  family  as 
her  husband.93 


DIVORCE 

The  relationship  between  husband  and  wife  is  nowhere 
more  clearly  reflected  than  in  divorce  laws  and  customs.  As 
we  have  already  pointed  out,1  mutuality  of  love  and  under- 
standing is,  from  the  Chinese  viewpoint,  the  sine  qua  non 
of  the  connubial  state.  Without  it,  marriage  ties  are  silly 
and  futile  and  should  forthwith  be  severed. 

The  Chinese  divorce  law,  both  old  and  new,  is  based  upon 
this  principle.  Hence,  if  husband  and  wife  cannot  live 
together  harmoniously  and  happily  because  of  “incompati- 

90  Ibid,  Article  1357. 

n Ibid,  Article  1358. 

nlbid , Article  1354. 

98  Ibid,  Articles  1352  and  1356. 

1 Supra,  p.  55. 


THE  RELATION  OF  HUSBAND  AND  WIFE 


71 


bility  of  temperament”,  and  if  both  parties  agree  to  separate, 
the  marriage  may  be  annulled.2  Annulment  of  marriage  on 
these  grounds  is  peculiar  to  the  Chinese.  In  the  United 
States  and  England,  for  instance,  marriage  is  a civil  contract 
and  cannot  be  abrogated  by  the  mere  consent  of  both  parties 
without  the  intervention  of  the  court.  In  China,  under  the 
old  law,  there  was  no  limitation  on  the  right  of  dissolving 
a marriage  by  mutual  consent3 ; court  action  was  only 
necessary  when  husband  and  wife  could  reach  no  agreement. 
The  new  law  follows  the  same  principle.  The  reason,  accord- 
ing to  the  note  to  Article  1359  of  the  Provisional  Civil  Code , 
is  that  when  a married  couple  cannot  live  happily  together, 
they  should  not  be  subjected  to  the  humiliation  of  giving 
publicity  to  private  family  matters  by  the  necessity  of  con- 
cluding divorce  in  a court  of  law. 

Divorce,  having  always  been  based  upon  mutual  consent, 
the  law  code  of  the  late  Manchu  regime  provided  that  a wife 
could  not  obtain  a divorce  without  her  husband’s  consent, 
and  that  a husband  could  not  repudiate  his  wife  unless  she 
had  broken  the  matrimonial  ties  by  the  crime  of  adultery  or 
had  given  him  one  or  more  of  the  “seven  justifying  causes”4 
of  divorce. 

According  to  the  old  law,  the  seven  grounds  upon  which 
a husband  might  take  action  for  divorce  were : barrenness, 
wanton  conduct,  neglect  of  husband’s  parents,  quarrelsome- 
ness, theft,  envy,  and  inveterate  infirmity.4  Balanced  against 
these  “seven  justifying  causes”  for  a husband  to  obtain 
divorce  were  three  “principles  of  justice”  that  protected  the 
wife  from  unwarranted  divorce  proceedings.  They  were : 
(1)  if  the  wife  had  mourned  three  years  for  her  husband’s 
parents;  (2)  if  the  family  had  become  rich  since  she  entered 
it  by  marriage;  (3)  if  the  wife  had  no  parents  living  to 
receive  her  back.4  “Under  these  conditions,  none  of  the 

2 Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  117 ; and  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article 
1359. 

3 Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee.  ibid. 

4 Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee , sec.  117. 


72 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


aforementioned  causes  will  justify  divorce,  and  the  husband 
who  puts  away  his  wife  under  such  circumstances  shall  suf- 
fer punishment  and  be  obliged  to  receive  her 

again  ’ 8 

Under  the  old  law  a wife  could  bring  action  for  divorce 
only  under  the  following  conditions:  (1)  because  of  incom- 

patibility of  temperament;  (2)  because  she  was  cruelly  trea- 
ted; (3)  because  she  had  been  deceived  by  false  statements 
in  the  marriage  contract8;  (4)  because  her  husband  had  been, 
or  had  become,  a leper;  (5)  because  her  husband  had  ab- 
sconded and  had  not  been  heard  of  for  three  years. 

The  new  code  has  more  provisions  on  divorce  and  makes 
it  even  easier  for  both  husband  and  wife  to  obtain  divorce. 
It  provides  that  either  husband  or  wife  may  institute  divorce 
proceedings  and  obtain  a divorce  for  one  or  more  of  the  fol- 
lowing reasons:  (1)  bigamy  (by  either  party);  (2)  adul- 

tery (by  either  party)  ; (3)  because  one  party  intends  to 
kill  the  other;  (4)  because  one  of  the  parties  is  ill  treated 
or  highly  insulted  by  the  other  thereby  making  it  impossible 
for  them  to  live  together;  (5)  because  the  wife  ill  treats  or 
highly  insults  the  relations  of  her  husband’s  parents;  (6) 
because  the  husband  is  ill  treated  or  highly  insulted  by  the 
parents  or  relations  of  his  wife;  (7)  because  either  party 
maliciously  deserts  the  other;  (8)  because  either  party  has 
not  known  the  whereabouts  of  the  other  for  over  three  years.' 

The  new  divorce  law,  however,  is  consistent  with  the  new 
marriage  law  which  requires  parental  consent  and  registration 
at  the  office  of  the  local  magistrate  for  all  valid  marriages. 
The  new  divorce  law  requires,  first,  that  if  the  husband  be 
under  thirty  or  the  wife  under  twenty  five,  the  consent  of 

5 Ibid. 

* Impotency  as  a ground  for  divorce  was  not  expressly  stated  in 
the  law  but  v^as  generally  understood  to  be  included  by  implication 
under  this  heading.  If,  however,  impotency  should  develop  after 
marriage  it  was  not  a ground  for  divorce. 

7 Provisional  Civil  Code , Article  1362. 


THE  RELATION  OF  HUSBAND  AND  WIFE 


73 


the  parents  of  both  parties  is  necessary  for  a valid  divorce;' 
and,  secondly,  that  whenever  an  agreement  to  divorce  is  en- 
tered into,  it  must  be  registered  at  the  office  of  the  local 
magistrate  before  it  is  valid.6 

Because  of  the  nature  of  the  Chinese  family  system,  the 
child  or  children  of  divorced  parents  often  remain  with  their 
father.  On  this  point  the  new  code  makes  a departure  from 
the  old.  It  provides  that,  in  the  absence  of  definite  stipu- 
lation to  the  contrary  in  the  divorce  agreement,  the  father 
has  the  right  of  custody  of  the  child  or  children,  if  they  are 
over  five  years  of  age ; while,  if  they  are  under  that  age,  the 
mother  has  the  right  of  custody.9 10  Under  special  circumstan- 
ces, however,  the  court  reserves  the  right  to  confer  custody 
upon  either  party  according  to  their  fitness  to  care  for  the 
children,  or  to  appoint  a guardian  if,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
court,  neither  parent  is  qualified  to  look  after  the  interests 
of  the  children.10 

In  regard  to  the  property  rights  of  a divorced  couple,  the 
new  law  grants  a divorced  wife  the  right  to  take  with  her 
property  that  belongs  to  her.  “When  a divorce  is  obtained 
by  judicial  decree  or  mutual  consent,  the  property  of  the 
woman  shall  go  to  her”.11 

In  addition  to  equal  rights  in  the  instituting  of  divorce 
proceedings,  in  the  custody  of  children  and  in  property,  a 
wife,  under  the  new  law,  has,  if  successful  in  a divorce  suit 
instituted  on  proper  grounds,  the  right  of  alimony.12  The 
purpose  of  alimony,  as  explained  in  the  note  to  the  legal 
article,  is  to  provide  a divorced  wife  with  the  means  of  sus- 
tenance; the  amount  is  conditioned  by  the  husband’s  social 
and  financial  position.12 

It  is  obvious  that  the  status  of  the  wife  in  the  conjugal 

9 Provisional  Civil  Code t Article  1360. 

9 Ibid,  Article  1361. 

“Ibid,  Articles  1366  and  1367. 

11  Provisional  Civil  Code , Article  1368. 

Article  1369. 


74 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


relation  has  been  greatly  improved  by  the  new  law  which 
gives  her  more  rights  and  greater  power  to  enforce  them. 
The  present  divorce  law  of  China,  however,  has  many  of  the 
bad,  as  well  as  the  good,  features  of  the  divorce  laws  of 
Western  countries.13  The  desirability  of  a divorce  law  as 
liberal  as  that  now  in  force  in  China  is  open  to  discussion. 
This  much  can  be  said  with  certainty : that,  as  a whole,  the 
new  law  is  better  than  the  old  though  there  is  still  much 
room  for  improvement. 

15  Cf.  the  French  and  United  States  Divorce  Laws.  See  Devas, 
Studies  of  Family  Life,  passim;  La  Grasserie,  Les  principe  sociolo- 
giques  du  droit  civil,  passim;  Coudert,  Marriage  and  Divorce  Laws 
in  Europe;  and  Laws  of  American  Divorce,  passim. 


CHAPTER  VII 


The  Relationship  Between  Parents  and  Children 

I.  PARENTAL  POWER 

Before  the  enactment  of  the  Provisional  Civil  Code,  paren- 
tal power  in  China  was  very  great,  though  not  so  ‘ ‘ unlimited  ’ ’ 
or  “despotic”  as  has  been  generally  supposed.  In  the  new 
code  parental  power  is  still  maintained  and  jealously  safe- 
guarded; but  if  one  study  carefully  the  Chinese  laws,  both 
old  and  new.  on  this  point,  one  will  find  that  parental  power 
is  not  prescribed  as  an  arbitrary  right  to  be  exercised  for 
the  pleasure  or  benefit  of  the  parents  but  as  a means  of  pro- 
tecting the  best  interests  of  the  child.  The  regrettable  failure 
uf  casual  foreign  observers  and  ultra-progressive  Chinese  re- 
formers to  note  this  fact,  has  given  rise  to  many  inconsistent, 
and  often  contradictory,  statements  about  parental  power 
in  China. 

Parental  power  in  China  can  be  exercised  either  by  father 
or  mother,  but  it  cannot  be  exercised  by  both  at  the  same 
time.  As  a general  rule,  the  father,  when  living  and  staying 
at  home,  supports  the  child  and  directs  its  rearing  and  edu- 
cation. In  some  cases,  for  instance  the  marriage  of  the  child, 
the  mother  also  has  something  to  say.14  Upon  the  death  of 
the  father,  or  for  other  extraordinary  reasons,14  the  mother 
assumes  parental  authority.14 

So  long  as  the  father  is  the  head  of  the  family,  he  is  respon- 
sible for  its  support  and  for  the  education  of  the  children;15 
while  the  mother  is  responsible  for  the  proper  conduct  of  in- 
ternal domestic  affairs.  When  the  children  reach  marriage- 
able age,  it  is  the  duty,  as  wrell  as  the  right,  of  the  parents  to 
arrange  matches  for  them.  Sons  often  marry  before  they  are 

14  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1370. 

15  Ibid.  Articles  1370,  1372  and  1376. 

75 


76 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


self-supporting  and  their  parents  have  to  support  them  and 
their  wives.  This  is  one  of  the  defects  of  the  Chinese  family 
system.16  On  the  other  hand,  those  sons  who  are  capable  of 
successful  business  careers  have  to  contribute  their  earnings 
to  the  general  expenses  of  the  family,  and  cannot  establish 
separate  homes  for  themselves  without  the  consent  of  their 
parents.  The  mother,  if  she  is  not  too  old,  continues  to  man- 
age the  household  affairs,  and  the  daughters-in-law  therefore 
play  a rather  unimportant  part  in  the  family  organization. 
Father  and  mother  have  an  equal  right  to  demand  respect  and 
obedience  from  their  sons  and  daughters-in-law. 

In  business  transactions  and  other  external  domestic  affairs, 
the  father,  provided  he  is  at  the  same  time  the  Chia-chang , 
represents  the  family.  He  signs  all  contracts  and  agreements. 
All  properties  and  lands  are  owned  by  the  family  in  his 
name ; but  he  cannot  dispose  of  any  of  the  family  property, 
nor  even  his  own  personal  property,  arbitrarily.  He  can 
make  no  will104  in  the  English  sense  of  the  word,  nor  any  un- 
just division  of  the  family  property  among  his  children.1’ 
All  his  children,  married  daughters  excepted,  have  a legal 
claim  to  the  family  property  of  which  they  cannot  be  de- 
prived. Disinheritance  of  a son  is  permissible  only  upon 
the  ground  of  incorrigibility  and  consequent  expulsion  from 
the  family.  Even  in  these  unusual  cases  the  father  cannot 
act  arbitrarily  or  alone.  He  must  first  assemble  all  his 
kindred  and  consult  them;  and  their  decision  in  so  serious 
a matter  must  be  unanimous. 

Parental  power  in  China  has  been  greatly  misunderstood 
even  by  so-called  “scientific  observers”.  The  author  of  “Stu- 
dies of  Family  Life”  believes  that  “the  father’s  authority 
over  his  children  is  very  great  among  the  Chinese;  short  of 


19  See  infra,  pp.  93,  et  seq. 

»*  “Chinese  Wills.”  China  Review,  vol.  4,  pp.  399-400  and  vol. 
5,  p.  69. 

1T  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  88. 


RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN  PARENTS  AND  CHILDREN  77 


life  and  death,  there  is  scarcely  any  limit  to  it;  and  he  is 
not  severely  dealt  with  if  his  child  die  under  the  punishment 
he  inflicts”.18  A German  writer  says  of  Chinese  parental 
power : ‘ ‘ The  patria  potestas  19  over  children,  whether  legiti- 
mate or  adopted,  is  unlimited.  The  father  can  do  with  them 
as  he  likes ; he  may  not  only  chastise,  but  even  sell,  expose,  or 
kill  them.  The  latter  occurs  often  enough,  especially  with 
girls,  if  the  family  is  too  poor  to  bring  them  up”.*0 

Let  us  see  whether  these  statements  have  any  foundation 
in  fact.  Polemic  argument  is  out  of  place  in  a scientific 
study,  but  we  may  well  quote  a few  sections  of  Chinese  law, 
both  old  and  new,  concerning  parental  power.  The  law  code 
of  the  late  Manchu  regime,  bodily  derived  from  the  T’ang 
Leu,  the  code  of  the  T’ang  dynasty,  which  was,  in  turn,  de- 
rived from  the  oldest  code  of  the  Han  dynasty,21  says : 

“If  a father,  mother,  paternal  grandfather  or  grandmother  chas- 
tise a child  or  grandchild  in  a severe  and  uncustomary  manner,  so 
that  he  or  she  dies,  the  party  so  offending  shall  be  punished  with 
100  blows.  When  any  of  the  aforesaid  relations  are  guilty  of  kill- 
ing such  disobedient  child  or  grandchild  designedly , the  punish- 
ment shall  be  increased  to  60  blows  and  a year’s  banishment. 
...  If  a father,  mother,  paternal  grandfather  or  grandmother 
chastise  a son’s  or  grandson’s  wife,  or  an  adopted  child  or  grand- 
child, in  a severe  and  uncustomary  manner,  so  as  to  produce  a 
permanent  injury,  they  shall  suffer  the  punishment  of  80  blows.  If 
the  chastisement  produce  total  disability  and  irremediable  infirmity, 
the  punishment  shall  be  increased  to  90  blows,  and  in  every  such 
case  the  adopted  child  or  their  own  child’s  wife  shall  be  sent  back 
to  the  family  whence  they  were  taken”.22 

1S  Devas,  Studies  of  Family  Life , p.  8. 

19  The  analogy  of  Chinese  parental  power  and  Roman  patria 
potestas  is  unwarranted;  the  former  is  as  different  from  the  latter 
as  the  Chinese  language  is  from  Latin. 

20  Mollendorff,  “The  Family  Law  of  the  Chinese,”  Jour,  of  the 
China  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1892,  new  series,  vol. 
27,  pp.  131-190,  passim.  See  also  Huberich,  “The  Paternal  Power  in 
Chinese  Law.”  Juridical  Review,  vol.  14,  pp.  378,  et  seq. 

21  Vide  supra,  p.  22. 

22  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee.  sec.  319.  In  1770  the  Minister  of  Justice 


78 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


The  new  law  also  limits  parents  to  the  reasonable  chastise- 
ment of  their  children;23  and  if  a child  be  guilty  of  a grave 
offense  “the  father  or  mother  having  parental  rights  may, 
for  the  purpose  of  correcting  his  or  her  son  or  daughter, 
apply  to  the  Court  of  Justice  for  the  infliction  of  a punish- 
ment not  exceeding  six  months’  imprisonment.”  24 
Can  Chinese  parents  sell  their  children,  or  give  their  daugh- 
ters in  marriage  contrary  to  the  law,  as  many  foreign  writers 
imagine  that  they  can?  Again  the  old  law,  Ta-Tsing  Leu 
Lee , Section  275,  answers:  “Any  person  who  sells  his  children 
or  grandchildren  against  their  wishes  shall  be  punished  with 
80  blows,  etc.”  Neither  can  parents  compel  their  children, 
sons  or  daughters,  to  marry  contrary  to  the  law,  under  pain 
of  severe  penalties.2"  Moreover,  Chinese  parents  are  obli- 
gated to  care  for  and  support  their  children  under  pain  of 
penal  servitude  for  a term  of  from  two  months  to  four  years 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  case.*6 

Chinese  parental  powder  over  the  child  is  legally  terminated 
by  (1)  the  death  of  the  parent  exercising  the  power;2*  (2)  by 
suspension  of  the  parental  power  of  the  father  under  the 
following  circumstances:  (a)  when  his  whereabouts  are  un- 

known, (b)  when  he  has  been  put  under  interdict  by  action 
of  the  court,  (c)  when  he  is  legally  incapacitated;25  (3)  by 
suspension  of  the  parental  power  of  the  mother  by  re- 


in China  issued  a decree  subjecting  persons  guilty  of  infanticide 
to  the  same  penalty  as  those  guilty  of  intentional  killing  of  an 
older  child.  (See  Scherzer,  La  puissance  paternelle  en  Chine,  p. 
17.)  Since  then  infanticide  has  been  regarded  by  law  in  the  same 
light  as  the  killing  of  a grown  child. 

23  Provisional  Civil  Code , Article  1374. 

24  Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China , Article  11. 

25  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  secs.  102  and  117. 

» Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China , Article  339. 

27  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1370.  After  the  father’s  death 
the  parental  power  goes  to  the  mother 

28  Ibid.  Articles  1410,  19,  20,  21,  23  and  8. 


RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN  PARENTS  AND  CHILDREN  79 


marriage"  or  divorce;30  (4)  by  the  death  of  the  child;  (5) 
by  adoption  of  the  child  by  others;31  (6)  by  marriage,  in 
case  of  the  daughters.32 

II.  THE  POSITION  OF  THE  CHILD 

Without  going  into  the  ethical  philosophy  of  filial  piety, 33 
let  us,  from  the  legal  and  practical  point  of  view,  examine 
the  position  of  the  child  in  relation  to  its  parents  and  to  the 
other  older  members  of  the  family.  According  to  the  old  law, 
a son  remained  a minor  throughout  the  lifetime  of  his  father. 
This  is  no  longer  in  force.  Under  the  new  law  a child  attains 
legal  majority  at  the  age  of  twenty.34  The  attainment  of 
legal  age,  however,  does  not  free  the  child  from  the  obliga- 
tions of  reverence  and  obedience  to  its  parents,  or  from  the 
duty  of  supporting  them.  Moreover,  as  previously  pointed 
out,  sons  cannot  establish  separate  families  or  divide  the 
family  property  among  themselves  without  parental  con- 
sent;35 neither  sons  nor  daughters  can  contract  valid  mar- 
riages without  consulting  their  parents  in  advance  ;3<  and,  if 
the  husband  is  under  thirty  or  the  wife  under  twenty  five, 
divorce  cannot  be  obtained  without  the  permission  of  par- 
ents.37 The  duty  of  children  to  support  their  parents  and 
grandparents  is  implicit  and  explicit.  Under  no  circumstan- 
ces can  they  escape  or  ignore  this  duty.  “Any  person  who 

29  Ibid,  Article  1378. 

30  See  “Divorce,”  supra,  p.  73. 

31 Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1377. 

32  Ibid,  Article  1379. 

33  For  the  essence  of  filial  piety,  see  Li  Ki  (James  Legge’s  trans- 
lation), bk.  XXI,  secs.  I and  II. 

34  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  10. 

35  Ibid,  Articles  1323,  sec.  2;  and  1373.  Cf  also  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee, 
secs.  87  and  88. 

38  Provisional  Civil  Code,  Article  1360. 

37  Ibid,  Article  1338. 


80 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


abandons  any  of  his  lineal  ascendants  shall  be  liable  to  penal 
servitude  for  life  or  for  a term  of  from  five  to  fifteen  years  ’ * " 
and  “ shall  upon  conviction  be  deprived  of  his  civil  rights”.** 
Even  when  China  was  an  absolute  monarchy,  governmental 
duty  was  not  a valid  excuse  for  abandoning  aged  parents  or 
grandparents.  “Any  person  who,  in  order  to  hold  an  office 
under  the  government,  absents  himself  from  a father,  mother, 
paternal  grandfather  or  grandmother,  who  is  either  upwards 
of  eighty  years  of  age  or  totally  disabled  by  any  infirmity, 
.and  has  no  other  male  offspring  above  the  age  of  sixteen  to 
perform  the  duties  of  filial  piety,  shall  suffer  a punishment 
•of  80  blows.  ’ ’ 40  Even  a criminal  under  sentence  of  death 
«eould,  under  the  old  law,  be  excused  by  an  “act  of  grace” 
of  the  emperor  to  support  his  aged  parents  or  grandparents, 
provided  he  “has  parents  or  grandparents  who  are  sick,  in- 
firm or  above  the  age  of  seventy  years,  and  who  have  no  other 
male  child  or  grandchild  above  the  age  of  sixteen  to  support 
them.  ’ ’41 

Apart  from  legal  compulsion,  Chinese  children  are  taught 
by  precept  and  example  throughout  their  lifetimes  to  reverence 
'N  their  parents  and  to  see  that  they  suffer  neither  want  nor  sor- 
row. As  a rule  the  old  people  in  the  Chinese  family  are  jeal- 
ously taken  care  of  by  the  younger  members.  This  is  undoubt- 
edly one  of  the  reasons  why  the  ‘ ‘ Old  People ’s  Home  ’ ’ or  the 
“Old  People’s  Farm”,  or  any  public  institution  of  the  kind, 
is  unknown  in  China. 

Not  only  must  children  be  reverent  and  obedient  and  sup- 
port their  parents  while  they  are.  living  but  after  their  death 
they  must  arrange  funerals  befitting  the  social  position  of 
the  family,  must  observe  three  years  of  mourning  and  ever 
afterwards  repeatedly  perform  acts  of  worship.  The  mourn- 

38  Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China*  Article  340. 

39  Ibid.  Article  433;  also  see  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  338. 

4°  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  180. 

41  Ibid,  sec.  18. 


RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN  PARENTS  AND  CHILDREN  81 


ing  dress  is  the  outward  expression  of  an  heart-felt  sorrow 
for  the  deceased.  From  the  earliest  times  public  sentiment 
in  China  has  been  so  strongly  in  favor  of  mourning  for  re- 
lations, particularly  for  parents,  that  it  was  definitely  pre- 
scribed in  the  law  codes  of  every  period  in  the  history  of 
China  until  the  present  civil  code.  The  style  of  the  mourning 
dress  was  minutely  prescribed  in  the  old  laws42  and  was 
vigorously  enforced  under  the  old  regime.43 

A son  is  also  responsible  for  his  deceased  father’s  debts. 
Public  opinion  in  China  dictates  that  “inasmuch  as  the  son 
inherits  the  property  of  his  father,  he  must  assume  his  de- 
ceased father’s  debts.”  Actually  a son  is  responsible  for  his 
father’s  debts  only  up  to  the  amount  of  property  left  him  by 
his  father;  but  Chinese  children  jealously  strive  to  keep  un- 
sullied the  memory  of  their  parents  and  invariably  pay  their 
parents’  debts,  even  when  extremely  poor,  up  to  the  very 
limit  of  their  financial  capacity. 

THE  RELATIONSHIP  AMONG  THE  JUNIOR  MEMBERS 
OF  THE  FAMILY 

The  respect  and  obedience  due  to  parents  and  grandparents 
are  also  extended,  in  some  measure,  to  all  the  elder  relations 
in  the  family.  This  is  simply  a matter  of  etiquette  and  good 
taste  on  the  part  of  the  younger  people.  The  assertion,  often 
made,  that  the  younger  members  of  a Chinese  family  are  sub- 
servient to  their  elders  and  that  the  unrestricted  authority 
of  their  elders  suppresses  and  sometimes  crushes  their  indi- 
vidualities, is  inconsistent  with  the  facts.  Any  member  of  a 
Chinese  family,  young  or  old,  who  achieves  success  in  any 
walk  of  life,  is  always  looked  up  to  by  all  the  others  with 
the  greatest  respect.  The  child,  boy  or  girl,  who  leads  in  his 
or  her  studies  at  school  is  the  pride  of  the  family.  It  is  not 
uncommon  to  see  elder  brothers  carrying  the  lunch  pail  to 
school  for  their  younger  brothers  or  sisters  and  waiting  on 

“ See  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee  (Chinese  edition),  vol.  I,  first  8 pages. 
a See  Ibid,  secs.  181,  176,  179,  372. 


82 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


them  during  the  meal.  Elder  brothers  of  poor  families,  im- 
pelled by  affection  and  a sense  of  duty,  often  voluntarily 
forego  opportunities  for  their  own  education  in  order  to  add 
to  the  family  income  and  thereby  provide  educational  advan- 
tages for  their  younger  brothers  and  sisters.  Younger  brothers 
and  sisters  in  China  do  respect  and  obey  their  elder  brothers, 
but  it  is  not  that  the  elder  brother  has  any  divinely  given 
power  to  compel  obedience  and  respect.  These  are,  rather, 
expessions  of  fraternal  affection  and  of  the  conviction  that 
the  greater  experience  and  knowledge  of  their  elder  brother 
justify  reliance  upon  his  judgment  and  guidance.  But  if 
the  elder  brother  be  a dullard,  or  in  any  way  unworthy,  his 
position  in  the  family  is  no  higher  than  that  of  any  of  the 
younger  members.  All  the  wives  of  brothers  stand  upon  an 
equal  footing  irrespective  of  age. 

The  Chinese  genealogical  system  makes  the  eldest  son  the 
“ continuator  1 7 of  his  father’s  line,  but  the  “continuator* 7 
enjoys  no  special  privileges  of  inheritance.  English  primo- 
geniture has  never  had  a counterpart  in  China.44  Naturally 
the  “continuator”  becomes  the  head  of  the  family  after  the 
death  of  his  parents,  provided  he  is  mentally,  morally  and 
physically  fitted  for  the  position  and  has  no  living  paternal 
uncle  older  than  himself.*5  If  he  becomes  the  head  of  the 
family,  he  holds  the  common  property  in  trust  for  the  other 
members,  but  under  no  circumstances  can  he  dispose  of  any 
part  of  it  without  the  consent  of  his  younger  brothers  and 
sisters.4*  As  we  have  already  noted,  the  responsibility  of  the 

44  However,  the  eldest  son  has  the  right  of  custody  of  the  an- 
cestral tablets  and  of  taking  the  leading  part  in  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  ancestral  worship.  He  is,  therefore,  entitled  to  that 
portion  of  the  family  property  reserved  for  these  purposes.  Upon 
his  death  these  rights  pass  to  his  eldest  son  who,  thus,  is  a more 
important  personage  than  his  uncles  in  matters  pertaining  to  the 
worship  of  their  common  ancestors,  i.e.,  their  parents  and  his 
grandparents.  Cf.  supra , pp.  31,  et  seq.  and  pp.  51,  et  seq. 

45  Vide  supra,  pp.  48  and  49. 

**  Vide  supra , p.  50. 


RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN  PARENTS  AND  CHILDREN  83 


head  of  a family  is  by  no  means  light.  Besides  taking  charge 
of  the  family  property,  it  is  his  duty  to  look  after  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  whole  family.  In  the  old  days  when  there 
was  hereditary  succession  of  ranks  and  titles,  the  eldest  son 
assumed  the  ranks  and  titles  of  his  deceased  father,  while 
the  younger  sons  could  inherit  no  such  honors  until  the  eldest 
son  was  dead  or  incapacitated.47  This  special  privilege,  how- 
ever, has  gone  forever,  since  there  are  no  ranks  and  titles 
under  the  republican  form  of  government. 

As  we  have  noted  before,  as  long  as  either  of  the  parents 
is  living  the  family  remains  intact,  except  under  extraordi- 
nary circumstances.  If  both  parents  are  dead,  and  all  the 
brothers  wish  to  establish  separate  families  for  themselves, 
the  family  property,  less  a certain  sum48  for  the  marriage 
expenses  of  unmarried  daughters,  if  there  be  any,  and  an 
additional  sum48  for  the  upkeep  of  ancestral  worship,  is 
divided  equally  among  the  brothers,  without  distinction.4’  If 
some  of  the  brothers  are  dead,  their  shares  go  to  their  chil- 
dren or  to  their  widows,  if  there  be  no  children,  provided 
the  widows  remain  in  the  families  of  their  husbands.  If  any 
of  the  deceased  brothers  is  survived  neither  by  wife  nor 
children,  his  share  goes  to  wdioever  agrees  to  assume  the 
deceased  brother’s  duties;  for  instance,  to  adopt  and  bring  up 
a child  in  order  to  continue  the  deceased  brother’s  line.  Un- 
married sisters  usually  take  their  marriage  “portions”  and 
go  to  live  with  their  eldest  brothers,  who,  therefore,  upon 
division  of  the  family  property,  usually  receive  an  extra  sum 
for  the  support  of  these  sisters.  Although  this  is  not  pre- 
scribed by  law,  unmarried  sisters  are  invariably  well  taken 
care  of  by  their  brothers. 


47  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  secs.  47  and  78. 

“These  sums  are  fixed  by  general  agreement  or  by  formal  de- 
cision of  the  family  council,  if  the  parents  leave  no  directions 
concerning  them.  No  definite  amounts  are  prescribed  by  law. 

“For  exceptions  see  supra,  pp.  52,  et  seq.  and  p.  76. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


Ancestor  Worship 

We  have  seen  that  the  ancient  Chinese  worshipped  their 
ancestors.50  The  institution  of  ancestor  worship  is  also  an 
outstanding  feature  of  the  Chinese  family  system  of  today. 
According  to  the  doctrine  of  filial  piety,  reverence  and  re- 
spect for  one’s  parents  endures  not  only  throughout  the 
lifetime  of  the  parents  but  throughout  the  lifetime  of  the 
child.61  “While  his  parents  are  alive,  he  reverently  cares 
for  them,  and,  when  they  are  dead,  he  reverently  makes 
sacrifices  unto  them”.5"  Thus  ancestor  worship  has  been 
perpetuated  in  China,  not  primarily  for  superstitious  or 
religious  reasons,  as  most  foreign  observers  imagine,  but  as 
a continuation  of  respect  and  obedience  to  deceased  parents 
and,  to  a lesser  extent,  to  more  remote  ancestors. 

What  is  the  nature  of  ancestor  worship?  In  China  each 
rich  family  has  its  own  private  ancestral  hall  where  the 
ancestral  tablets  are  kept.  These  tablets  are  made  of  wood 
or  stone  or  marble,  according  to  the  financial  circumstances 
of  the  family,  and  inscribed  thereon  are  the  names,  titles, 
dates  of  birth  and  death  of  deceased  ascendants  and  the 
names  and  degrees  of  relationship  of  their  nearest  living 
descendants.  The  poor  family  has,  in  the  main  hall  of  the 
house,  its  ancestral  shrine  wherein  are  arranged  the  wooden 
tablets  of  the  deceased.  Worship  is  usually  performed  twice 
every  year,  on  the  birthday  and  the  death-day  of  the  de- 
parted. The  offerings  are  burning  incense  and  eatable 
things  spread  before  the  tablets ; the  ceremonies  consist 
chiefly  of  prostrations  and  obeisances  before  the  tablets. 

*•  Vide  supra,  p.  38. 

51  Li  Ki.  bk.  X,  sec.  II,  2. 

K Ibid,  bk.  XII,  sec.  I,  5. 


84 


ANCESTOR  WORSHIP 


85 


It  is  quite  inaccurate  to  say  that  Chinese  ancestor  worship 
is  mere  superstition  or  that  it  is  merely  the  effect  of  a 
“ dread  of  ghosts”  or  of  an  “ animistic  lottery”.  A Chinese 
writer  remarks: 

While  admitting  that  in  some  degenerated  cases  there  has  slipped 
in  an  unanalysable  compound  of  the  secondary  fears  of  gods  and 
ghosts  and  the  primary  fear  of  bad  luck,  it  should  he  emphatically 
observed  that  this  form  of  worship  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
primordial  magic  of  the  savage  tribes,  or  the  refined  superstition  of 
the  Christian  churches.5* 

As  far  as  one  can  make  out,  the  use  of  the  tablet  as  an  ob- 
ject of  worship  is  not  due  to  the  belief  that  the  spirit  of  the 
departed  resides  in  it,  but  rather  that  it  is  a symbol  to  be 
remembered  and  respected  by  the  living;  and  the  days  set 
apart  for  worship  are  no  more  “religious”  than  is  remem- 
brance of  the  dead. 

Besides  the  private  ancestral  hall  and  family  shrine,  every 
“greater-family”04  group,  as  a unit,  establishes  a common 
ancestral  temple.  This  temple  houses  the  tablets  of  the  great 
historical  personages  of  the  group,  the  illustrious  ancestors 
“who  have  sacrificed  their  lives  for  the  people  as  governors 
or  administrators,  who  have  done  great  philanthropic  work, 
or  distinguished  themselves  in  literature  and  art”,  and  even 
the  illustrious  housewives  and  the  exemplary  widows,  who, 
after  the  death  of  their  husbands,  have  educated  their  chil- 
dren and  brought  them  up  to  positions  of  high  rank  and 
fame.  The  worship  of  these  great  personages  in  the  an- 
cestral temple  serves  as  a perpetual  inspiration  to  every 
member  of  the  group.  Each  and  every  member  of  the  group, 
whether  rich  or  poor,  high  or  low  in  social  position,  has 
equal  rights  and  privileges  in  the  ancestral  temple.  On  the 
birthdays  and  death-days  of  their  ancestors,  and  every  year 
in  the  spring  and  autumn,  periodical  ceremonies  of  worship 
are  performed  in  the  common  ancestral  temple  by  the  whole 

55  Kia-Loh  Yen,  “The  Basis  of  Democracy  in  China,”  Intern.  Jour, 
of  Ethics.  1918,  vol.  28,  p.  201. 

54  See  infra,  p.  88. 


86 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


group.  In  some  villages,  on  these  occasions,  only  the  male 
members  of  the  family,  who  are  of  age,  are  present,  while 
in  other  smaller  villages  the  entire  family  attends.  The 
ceremony  of  worship  consists  of  prostrations  and  obeisances 
before  the  tablets.  After  the  ceremony,  which  is  rather 
brief,  but  thereby  no  less  grave  and  solemn,  there  is  a feast 
which  usually  lasts  through  the  whole  afternoon.  Those 
present  go  to  their  seats  one  by  one,  according  to  age,  and 
eat  and  drink  and  enjoy  each  other’s  company.  Needless  to 
say,  such  an  occasion  is  more  like  the  annual  reunion  of  a 
large  family  than  a religious  service.  Its  good  social  effect 
upon  the  whole  group  is  by  no  means  slight. 

The  ancestral  temple  of  the  “greater-family”  group,  be- 
sides serving  as  a center  of  cooperative  enterprises  and  of 
mutual  aid,  and  as  a court  and  public  educational  center,  as 
we  shall  see  later,"3  also  serves  as  a social  center  and,  needless 
to  say,  fulfills  the  function  of  a church  in  Western  countries. 
In  it  every  important  event  of  life  is  celebrated.  Every 
child  born  in  the  group  has  the  date  of  its  birth  registered 
in  the  family  record  kept  here,  and  a few  months  later 
when  the  child  is  given  a name,  the  ceremony  is  also  held  in 
the  temple.  Every  newly  wedded  couple  must  come  here 
after  the  marriage  ceremonj^  to  pay  homage  to  their  ances- 
tors. Here  every  death  must  be  registered.  The  ancestral 
temple  is  the  center  of  the  social  life  of  the  “greater- 
family”. 

In  connection  with  ancestor  worship  may  be  mentioned 
the  visiting  of  ancestral  graves.  The  memory  of  departed 
relations  is  not  only  preserved  by  mourning  and  the  cere- 
monies before  their  tablets,  but  by  yearly  visits  to  their 
graves.  Once  a year,  during  the  Ch’ing-ming  festival  (the 
spring  festival),  on  or  about  the  fourth  of  April,  the  graves  of 
departed  ancestors  and  relations  are  visited.  Visiting  the  tomb 
or  grave  is  called  in  China  either  Ta-ch’ing,  meaning  “stepping 
on  the  green”,  Sun-mon,  “visiting  the  tomb”,  or  Pai-fen, 
“bowing  before  the  grave”.  It  is  somewhat  similar  to 


55  Infra . p.  88,  et  seq. 


ANCESTOR  WORSHIP 


87 


Decoration  Day  in  the  United  States,  though  much  more 
elaborate.  It  is  not  uncommon  on  that  day  to  see  vast 
crowds,  ofttimes  whole  families,  going  to  the  graves  of  their 
ancestors.  A feast  is  prepared  and  brought  there.  The  men 
and  boys  sweep  and  clean  the  graves,  cut  the  grass,  plant 
new  trees  and  trim  the  shrubs  around  the  graves;  while  the 
women  and  girls  prepare  the  feast,  set  the  tables  and  ar- 
range seats  for  worshipping.  The  ceremony  of  worship 
consists  of  prostrations  and  obeisances  before  the  graves  and 
lasts  only  a few  minutes.  After  this  ceremony  some  of  the 
dishes  are  warmed  over  in  the  portable  kitchen,  and  then 
each  person  goes  to  the  seat  provided  for  him.  There,  on 
the  top  of  the  hill,  away  from  strangers,  is  held  the  reunion 
of  the  whole  family,  the  living  and  the  dead.  They  eat  and 
drink  and  enjoy  each  other’s  company  exactly  as  at  the  feast 
held  in  the  ancestral  temple.  The  beneficial  social  effect  of 
this  convivial  gathering  of  the  whole  family  once  a year 
cannot  be  overstated. 


CHAPTER  IX 


The  ‘ ‘ Greater  Family  ’ ’ 5“ 


The  “ Greater  Family”,  consisting  of  members  of  differ- 
ent families  of  the  same  surname,  occupying  a whole  village 
or  a part  of  a village,  has,  as  we  have  noted  before,0'  a 
common  ancestral  temple  which  serves  as  the  center  of  the 
social  life  of  the  group.  It  has  also  its  own  property,  either 
left  by  the  founder  of  the  original  family  or  accumulated 
through  contributions  from  the  constituent  families  or  special 
endowments  by  wealthy  members  of  the  group.  The  income 
from  this  property  is  used  for  the  upkeep  of  the  ancestral 
temple,  for  the  seasonal  sacrifices  and  the  repair  of  ancestral 
graveyards.  It  is  also  used  for  a few  other  purposes  such 
as  education,  poor  relief,  etc. 

The  government  of  the  group  is  entrusted  to  a board  of 
elders,  of  varying  number,  selected  by  the  whole  group  from 
recommendations  by  the  senior  members.  Usually  the  board 
of  elders  consists  of  men  of  mature  age  and  high  standing 
who  command  the  respect  of  the  whole  community.  The 
most  capable  of  the  board  of  elders  is  selected  as  presiding 
officer.  The  position  of  recording  secretary  is  entrusted  to 
one  who  has  literary  ability ; and  the  office  of  treasurer  is 
invariably  filled  by  the  wealthy  and  highly  educated  mem- 
bers of  the  group.  They  hold  office  for  a definite  term. 
Sub-committees  are  often  appointed  for  various  duties  ac- 

58  The  difference  between  a “clan”  and  a group  of  Chinese  fami- 
lies living  together  in  a community  has  been  ably  pointed  out  by 
Mr.  Kia-Lok  Yen,  in  International  Jour,  of  Ethics , vol.  28,  pp.  197- 
219.  He  uses  the  term  “greater-family”  to  denote  the  latter.  I am 
fully  in  accord  with  his  view  on  this  point  and,  therefore,  propose 
to  borrow  that  term  from  him.  See  also  Donnat,  “Paysans  en  com- 
munaute  du  Ning-po-fou.”  Les  Ouvriers  des  deux  mondes.  tome  IV, 
no.  30,  pp.  83-158.  Paris.  1862. 

67  Vide  supra , pp.  32  and  33. 


88 


THE  “GREATER  FAMILY ” 


89 


cording  to  the  needs  of  the  group.  Members  of  committees 
are,  as  a rule,  experts  or  have  special  knowledge  of  the 
business  for  which  they  are  appointed. 

Every  project,  every  phase  of  the  intercourse  with  other  groups, 
every  acquisition  or  disposal  of  the  common  property,  every  loan  and 
the  interest  on  every  loan,  is  strictly  recorded  and  kept  in  the  hall 
where  any  member  may  inspect  it  if  he  chooses.  At  the  end  of 
each  year,  whether  it  be  the  end  of  an  administration  or  not,  there 
is  an  annual  meeting  at  which  the  records  of  all  business,  especially 
the  financial  transactions,  are  read.  Every  member  is  supposed  to 
be  present  at  this  meeting,  but,  in  practice,  each  family  sends  only 
one  member  as  its  representative,  or  sometimes  it  even  gives  the 
power  of  attorney  to  the  representative  of  some  other  family.58 

Some  of  the  constituent  families  of  the  “greater  family” 
may  be  poor,  and,  as  a rule,  the  well-to-do  families  cooperate 
to  help  them.  Sometimes  poorer  families  or  individuals  are 
given  help  from  the  common  property  in  the  ancestral  tem- 
ple. As  this  common  property  consists  chiefly  of  land  and 
ready  cash,  they  are  privileged  to  rent  the  land  at  a very 
low  rental  or  to  borrow  money  at  a very  low  rate  of  interest. 

In  addition  to  the  use  of  the  common  property  for  these 
purposes,  there  is  also  a special  fund,  derived  either  from  the 
income  from  the  ancestral  property  or  from  endowments, 
or  otherwise  provided  by  the  whole  community,  for  establish- 
ing a school  in  the  ancestral  temple  for  the  young  people  of 
the  group.  Before  the  abolition  of  the  old  system  of  public 
examination,  it  was  quite  common  to  find  one  or  two  young 
people,  who  had  been  successful  at  public  or  provincial 
examinations,  handsomely  rewarded  out  of  the  common 
property  and  regarded  with  profound  respect  by  the  whole 
community. 

There  is  in  the  “greater  family”  a sort  of  judicial  au- 
tonomy. Whenever  a dispute  between  individuals  or  between 
constituent  families  arises,  it  is  referred  to  the  ancestral 
temple.  The  board  of  elders  together  with  representatives  of 

““The  Bases  of  Democracy  in  China,”  Intern.  Jour,  of  Ethics, 
vol.  28,  p.  201. 


90  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 

disinterested  families  serve  as  arbitrators,  and  to  them  the 
evidence  and  arguments  are  presented  by  the  contesting 
parties.  The  decision  of  this  body  has  great  weight  but  the 
disputants  do  not  have  to  abide  by  it.  If  they  are  dissatis- 
fied with  the  findings,  the  whole  matter  is  taken  to  the  local 
magistrate  for  final  settlement.  As  a general  rule,  however, 
the  contesting  parties  respect  and  accept  the  decision  of  the 
elders,  even  when  both  sides  have  to  yield  a little,  for  to  go 
outside  of  the  group  for  a final  settlement  is  to  bring  dis- 
grace upon  the  name  of  the  “greater  family”.  Moreover, 
if  the  dispute  were  brought  to  a local  magistrate’s  court  for 
settlement,  it  would  involve  great  expense  for  both  parties, 
and,  after  all,  the  magistrate  can  arbitrate  intelligently  and 
justly  only  with  the  advice  and  assistance  of  the  elders  of 
the  “greater  family”. 

Members  in  the  group  who  misbehave  themselves  are 
punished  by  agencies  within  the  group.  If  the  wrong  done 
is  insignificant,  the  wrongdoer  is  punished  by  his  own  par- 
ents as  soon  as  the  misdemeanor  is  reported  to  them.  When 
the  offense  is  serious,  the  offender  is  tried  by  a tribunal 
composed  of  the  elders.  If  judged  guilty,  the  offender  is 
either  made  to  kneel  down  before  the  ancestral  temple  and 
declare  his  repentance,5"  or  he  is  debarred,  for  a definite 
period,  varying  according  to  the  offense,  from  participation 
in  ancestral  worship  and  from  sharing  the  sacrificial  meat. 
Heavier  punishment  is  inflicted  upon  those  who  continually 
bring  disgrace  upon  the  group  by  serious  crimes;  by  the 
concerted  action  of  the  elders  they  are  expelled  from  the 
group  and  their  names  erased  from  the  family  records. 

The  civil  authorities  seldom  interfere  with  the  decisions 
of  the  elders.  Crimes  against  the  state,  however,  are  not 
left  to  the  tribunal  of  the  “greater  family”,  nor  are  they 
mitigated  by  the  collective  responsibility  of  the  whole  group. 
As  early  as  the  Ts’in  dynasty  (255-202  B.  C.),  a law  was 

5»  This  is  regarded  as  a symbol  of  the  greatest  shame,  for  it 
implies  that  the  offender  has  become  unworthy  to  be  a descendant 
of  his  ancestors. 


THE  “ GREATER  FAMILY ” 


91 


passed  which  made  the  whole  “greater  family”  responsible 
for  a crime  committed  by  any  one  of  its  individual  mem- 
bers.60 The  first  emperor  of  the  Ts’in  dynasty  was  afraid  of 
the  solidarity  of  the  “greater  family”  and  aimed  this  law 
against  it.  This  law,  however,  lasted  only  a score  of  years; 
then  died  and  was  buried  with  its  maker.  In  the  law  code 
of  the  late  Manchu  regime  responsibility  for  crimes  com- 
mitted by  junior  members  of  a family  rested,  to  some 
extent,  upon  the  father  or  the  head  of  the  family,  whose 
negligence  or  indulgence  was  believed  to  be  their  cause”; 
but  though  the  law  still  remained  on  the  statute  books,  it 
had  long  since  fallen  into  disuse. 

80  Sze-Ma  Tsien,  Historical  Records . vol.  V,  “History  of  Ts’in 
Dynasty,”  passim. 


61  Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee,  sec.  75. 


CHAPTER  X 

Conclusion  : Evaluation  of  the  Chinese  Family  System 

Foreign  writers,  and  even  some  of  our  Chinese  writers 
who  have  lately  acquired  a little  Western  sociological  knowl- 
edge, believe  that  the  Chinese  family  system  is  primitive. 
This  belief  is  not  based  upon  a careful  study  of  the  actual 
facts.  The  Chinese  family  system,  like  most  modern  social 
institutions,  retains  some  of  its  primordial  traits,  but  it  is 
far  from  being  primitive.  Older  than  any  other  existing 
family  system,  it  has,  indeed,  undergone  an  even  more  com- 
plete development  than  the  corresponding  institution  of  occi- 
dental countries. 

In  the  Chinese  family  every  relation,  near  or  remote,  by 
blood  or  marriage,  is  well  defined  and  has  a specific  name.1 

An  uncle  on  the  paternal  side  is  known  by  one  name,  the 
husband  of  an  aunt  on  the  same  side,  by  another.  The  two  cor- 
responding relatives  on  the  maternal  side  have  again  other  names. 
An  uncle  who  is  a brother  of  the  father  is  known  by  a name  dif- 
ferent from  one  who  is  a cousin,  and  that  again  different  from 
those  one,  two,  or  three  steps  further  removed.  An  older  uncle 
(older  than  the  father)  has  a different  name  from  a younger  one. 
But  for  all  these  there  is  only  one  word  in  English  as  well  as  in 
most  other  Western  languages.2 

The  complexity  of  the  Chinese  family  system  is  further 

1 For  the  different  names  of  relations  in  the  Chinese  family,  see 
China  Rev.,  vol.  XXI,  pp.  15-39.  This,  however,  is  not  complete. 
Cf.  also  the  terminology  of  the  various  family  relationships  of  the 
Chow  dynasty,  1122  B.  C.,  in  History  of  Chinese  Customs,  pt.  I, 
chap.  3,  sec.  12;  and  Li  Ki,  bk.  I,  pt.  Ill,  secs.  13  and  14.  Since 
the  above  sentence  was  written,  an  article,  “Chinese  Family  Nomen- 
clature and  Its  Supposed  Relation  to  a Primitive  Group — Marriage,” 
by  H P.  W.  Wilkinson,  B.  C.  L.,  appeared  in  The  New  China  Re- 
view, June,  1921,  vol.  III.  pp.  159-191,  criticising  some  of  the  views 
held  by  Morgan,  McLennan  and  Starcke  regarding  the  Chinese 
family  system. 

Chinese  Political  Sci.  Rev.,  vol.  II,  no.  3,  pp.  80,  et  seq. 

92 


2 


EVALUATION  OF  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM  92 


shown  by  the  detailed  customs  and  ceremonies  which  prevail 
to  this  day.  In  every  important  family  affair,  like  marriage, 
the  family  relationships  are  strictly  observed.  “At  any 
great  social  function,  like  a wedding  or  a funeral,  the  cos- 
tume, the  position,  the  duty,  the  order,  the  kind  of  present, 
the  manner  of  expressing  congratulation  or  sympathy,  etc., 
all  differ  with  different  relatives.  Elaborate  rules  govern 
their  conduct,  and  remote  though  the  relations  may  be,  they 
are  different  from  mere  friends”.3 

Moreover  the  laws  of  inheritance  and  succession,  and  the 
rights  and  duties  of  every  member  of  the  family,  are  well 
defined  and  strictly  complied  with.4  Thus,  in  law,  in  custom, 
and  in  language  the  complex  development  of  the  Chinese 
family  system  is  revealed. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  Chinese  family  is  not  so  simple  an 
organization  as  the  modern  occidental  family  or  so  primitive 
as  the  Roman  type.  It  is,  indeed,  in  complexity  and  de- 
finiteness, far  more  advanced  than  the  modern  family  of 
Western  countries;  and  from  the  evolutionary  viewpoint  it 
would  be  far  more  logical  to  call  the  latter,  rather  than  the 
former,  primitive. 

This  does  not  mean,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  that  the 
Chinese  family  system  is  better  in  every  respect  than  its 
Western  counterpart.  From  the  standpoint  of  physical 
efficiency,  the  Chinese  family  system  can  hardly  be  com- 
pared to  the  modern  occidental  family.  So  complicated, 
and  therefore  clumsy,  an  institution  is  naturally  not  devoid 
of  defects,  and  in  some  cases  these  defects  are  serious  handi- 
caps under  modern  conditions.  The  social  and  economic 
responsibility  of  each  member  of  the  whole  family  sometimes 
discourages  individual  initiative,  a trait  of  character  almost 
indispensable  in  modern  times.  What  is  worse,  family 
solidarity  and  the  consequent  safeguards  provided  against 
economic  distress  sometimes  virtually  encourage  individual 

* Ibid.  For  all  these  rules,  see  Li  Ki,  Ta-Tsing  Hoe  Tien  and 
The  History  of  Chinese  Customs. 

* Vide  supra , chapters  IV  and  VII,  ii. 


94 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


members  to  be  indolent  and  inefficient.  Since  the  property  of 
the  family  is  held  in  common  and  as  far  as  possible  un- 
divided, only  the  exceptionally  energetic  and  ambitious 
trouble  themselves  to  undertake  new  enterprises.  Even  the 
more  energetic  members  are  unconsciously  affected  by  bad 
example ; and  often  they  avoid  the  hardship  of  new  under- 
takings because  they  realize  that  the  shiftless  and  lazy  will 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  toil.  Though  the  more  enterprising 
individuals  who  are  successful  in  business  or  in  other  activi- 
ties are  always  looked  upon  by  the  whole  family  with  pro- 
found respect,  this  positive  incentive  is  not  always  strong 
enough  to  counteract  the  negative  forces.  Furthermore,  the 
average  person  in  a large  family  hardly  dares  to  run  the 
risk  of  undertaking  a great  enterprise,  for  though  his  gain 
benefits  all,  his  loss  likewise  brings  misfortune  to  the  whole 
family.  This  is  certainly  one  of  the  causes  that  has  made 
great  industrial  enterprises  practically  unknown  in  China 
till  quite  recently. 

Such  are  the  most  serious  defects  of  the  Chinese  family 
system.  From  the  social  and  moral  point  of  view,  however, 
the  Chinese  family  system  possesses  many  good  traits  which 
have  helped  China  more  than  all  her  other  social  institutions 
taken  together.  First  of  all,  despite  its  economic  defects 
mentioned  above,  the  Chinese  family  system  has,  at  the  same 
time,  some  economic  value.  It  has  practically  eliminated  all 
the  ruthlessness  and  tragedy  from  the  “ struggle  for  exist- 
ence” in  China.  The  family  property,  the  means  of  exist- 
ence, has  always  been  collective.  The  father,  or  head  of  the 
family,  though  theoretically  supreme,  provides  for  the  mate- 
rial needs  of  the  whole  family;  while  the  mother  and  the 
women  members  of  the  family  are  responsible  for  the  inter- 
nal affairs  of  the  household.  Every  male  member  must 
contribute  all  his  earnings  towards  the  support  of  the  whole 
family,  and,  of  course,  has  a claim  on  the  earnings  of  all 
the  others.  All  the  women  help  in  the  household  work.  If 
all  the  adult  male  members  are  productive,  the  collective 
income  is  usually  more  than  enough  to  provide  a comfort- 


EVALUATION  OF  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


95 


able  living  for  the  whole  family.  In  some  families,  however, 
the  women  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  family  by  bring- 
ing into  the  home  suitable  outside  work,  like  sewing,  embroid- 
ering, and  weaving.  Every  individual  works  for  the  family 
and  not  for  himself  alone.  Should  any  member  be  crippled 
or  otherwise  helpless,  all  the  others  must  aid  him  and 
support  him.  Pride  as  well  as  duty  demands  this5;  for  it 
would  be  a disgrace  to  the  whole  family  to  let  him  struggle 
alone  or  receive  help  from  outsiders.  As  a rule,  Chinese 
people  respect  and  honor  old  people,  especially  the  aged 
members  of  their  own  families.  Aged  parents  and  relations 
are  jealously  taken  care  of ; they  are  never  allowed  to  suffer 
want,  and  always  have  first  consideration  in  any  matter  of 
physical  comfort.  The  benevolent  communism  of  the  Chinese 
family  makes  unnecessary  institutions  of  public  charity. 

The  Chinese  family  system  also  tends  to  prevent  individ- 
uals from  committing  crimes  or  doing  mischief.  As  a 
member  of  a family  one  is,  by  blood  and  marriage,  enmeshed 
in  an  intricate  web  of  relationships,  and  one’s  crimes  are 
fraught  with  serious  consequences  for  the  whole  family  and 
for  the  families  connected  with  it.  The  effect  of  this  social 
pressure  is  very  great.  Moreover,  according  to  the  doctrine 
of  filial  piety,  the  highest  duty  is  “the  honoring  of  our 
parents”,6 7  the  “chief  thought  is  how,  to  the  end  of  life,  not 
to  disgrace  them”.1  “When  the  parents  are  dead,  and  the 
son  carefully  watches  his  actions  so  that  a bad  name  involv- 
ing his  parents  may  not  be  handed  down,  he  may  then  be 
said  to  maintain  his  filial  piety  to  the  end”.6  “He  whom 
the  superior  man  pronounces  filial  is  he  whom  all  the  people 
of  his  state  praise,  saying  with  admiration,  ‘Happy  are  the 
parents  who  have  such  a son  as  this ! ’ ” 6 

It  should  be  emphasized  here  that  not  only  the  younger 
members  of  the  family  are  deterred  from  wrongdoing,  but 

5 Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China , Article  339. 

6 Li  Ki , bk.  II,  sec.  9. 

7 Ibid,  bk.  XXI,  sec.  5. 

* Ibid.  sec.  11. 


96 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


even  the  elder  members  must  constantly  keep  in  mind  the 
social  position  of  the  family  in  the  community.  If  any 
member,  regardless  of  his  position  in  the  family,  commit  a 
crime,  he  is  despised  and  ostracized  by  all  his  relations.  The 
influence  of  filial  piety  and  the  peculiar  organization  and 
relationships  of  the  Chinese  family  are  no  less  powerful  in 
controlling  individual  conduct  than  the  sermon  and  the  Sun- 
day School  lesson  on  the  seventh  day. 

The  Chinese  family,  furthermore,  is  the  best  agency  for 
socializing  individuals.  Every  member,  from  childhood  to 
the  break-up  of  the  family,  is  taught  to  cooperate,  to  love, 
to  obey,  to  serve,  to  respect  the  rights  of  others.  In  this,  the 
family  system  has  promoted  social  progress  more  than  any 
other  social  institution  in  China.  Some  casual  observers 
have  pointed  a close  analogy  between  the  Chinese  family 
system  and  that  of  Rome.  As  we  have  already  shown,  the 
Chinese  family  is  as  different  from  the  Roman  as  the  Chinese 
language  is  from  Latin.  The  analogy  is  in  no  way  borne 
out  by  the  facts.  The  Chinese  family  has  no  pater  familias 
exercising  absolute  power  of  life  and  death  over  his  subjects. 
For  the  most  part,  relationships  in  the  Chinese  family  are 
reciprocal,  whether  between  parents  and  children  or  between 
the  head  of  the  family  and  the  junior  members.  The  Chinese 
family  law  and  the  actual  working  of  the  Chinese  family 
system  prove  this  important  fact  which  has  been  overlooked 
by  most  foreign  writers.  The  ambition  of  most  Chinese 
parents  is  that  their  children  may  become  great  and  useful 
citizens,  the  light  and  glory  of  the  family.  Inspired  by  this 
incentive,  they  concentrate  all  their  energies  upon  the  proper 
rearing  of  their  children.  And  if  the  junior  members  of  a 
family  respect  and  obey  their  elders,  it  is  because  they 
realize  that  they  can  profit  from  the  wisdom  and  guidance 
of  greater  experience  and  age. 

Thus  every  member  of  the  family  learns  from  childhood  to 
labor  for  the  common  good,  to  respect  his  elders,  to  be  loyal 
to  his  whole  family,  to  love  and  cooperate  with  his  relations 
without  submerging  his  individuality  in  the  solidarity  of  the 


EVALUATION  OF  THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


97 


group.  He  is  prepared  in  the  family,  “the  state  in  minia- 
ture ’ * for  effective  citizenship  in  the  greater  state,  the 
nation.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  organization  of 
the  Chinese  family,  both  the  single  family  and  the  “greater 
family”,  based  as  it  is  on  mutual  respect,  mutual  love  and 
mutual  aid,  has,  despite  its  many  defects,  done  more  for 
Chinese  society  and  for  the  preservation  of  Chinese  civiliza- 
tion than  any  other  single  institution.  Above  all,  it  has 
laid  the  foundation  and  prepared  the  way  for  modern 
Chinese  democracy. 

It  is  clear,  in  the  light  of  our  review  of  the  merits  and 
demerits  of  the  Chinese  family,  that  the  system,  though 
characterized  by  many  good  traits  which  should  be  retained, 
needs  improvement  to  meet  modern  conditions.  Just  how 
the  system  can  be  adequately  adjusted  to  changing  China, 
is  a subject  for  another  study.  Though  public  opinion  in 
China  today  favors  some  change,  there  are  few,  if  any,  who 
advocate  throwing  away  the  old  system  entirely  and  con- 
structing a new  one  upon  the  Western  model.  In  this 
attitude  are  intimations  of  hope  that  the  good  features  of 
the  old  system  may  be  combined  with  the  good  features  of 
the  Western  family  system  into  the  Chinese  family  system 
of  the  future.  By  careful  deliberation  and  sane  social  con- 
trol the  system  of  the  future  can  not  only  be  made  superior 
to  the  Chinese  system  of  the  past,  but  to  the  present  Western 
system. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


It  should  be  understood  that  the  following  list  is  not  a 
complete  bibliography.  It  is  merely  an  endeavour  to  in- 
dicate the  chief  primary  sources  from  which  materials  for 
this  monograph  were  drawn,  and  the  principal  books  and 
articles  consulted  on  various  phases  of  the  subject  and  allied 
subjects. 


I.  PRIMARY  SOURCES* 

1.  History 

(a)  In  Chinese: 

Chu  Shu  Chi  Nien  ( The  Bamboo  Records ).  12  books.  With  com- 

mentary by  Chin  Yo.  It  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  the  grave 
of  Seang,  king  of  Wei,  in  the  year  279  A.  D.,  and  contains  the 
history  of  China  from  2400  to  300  B.  C. 

Chu  Shu  Chi  Nien  Tung  Tsien  ( Annals  of  the  Bamboo  Books). 

Edited  by  Seu  Wang  Tsing.  China.  1750. 

History  of  Chinese  Customs.  By  Liang  Tsai  Chang.  Shanghai. 
1910. 

Historical  Records.  By  Sze-Ma  Tsien,  written  90  B.  C.  from  mate- 
rials collected  by  his  father,  Sze-Ma  T’an.  A translation  into 
French  has  been  published  by  M'.  Chavannes.  Paris.  1895-1905. 
5 vols.  This  is  a history  of  China  from  the  earliest  times  to 
about  90  B.  C. 

Kin  Ting  Shu  King  Shwo  Wei  Tswan  ( The  Book  of  Historical 
Documents  with  a compilation  and  digest,  comments  and  re- 
marks thereon,  by  Tsae  Chin,  Fuh  Shing,  Rung  Gan  Kwo,  and 
others.)  Compiled  by  an  Imperial  Commission  with  a preface 
by  the  Emperor  Yung  Chin  of  Manchu  dynasty.  China.  1730. 
Loo  She  ( The  Great  History , from  antiquity  to  1766  B.  C.).  By 
Lo  Pe.  China.  1170.  Later  edition,  China.  1700. 

Shana  Shu  Choo  Soo  ( The  Book  of  Historical  Documents  from 
2679-206  B.  C.,  with  commentary  and  exposition).  China.  1861. 


* Most  of  the  principal  works  in  Chinese  can  be  found  either 
in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Washington,  D.  C.,  the  Public  Library 
of  New  York  City,  or  the  Library  of  Columbia  University. 

99 


100 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


Shu  King  Choo  Soo  ( Book  of  History,  loith  a commentary  and 
exposition).  China.  1861. 

Tung  Chien  Kang  Mu  (the  revised  version  of  the  famous  historical 
work  by  Sze-Ma  Kuang,  known  as  *■ Tung  Chien ” or  Mirror  of 
History") . 

Yih  She  ( History  of  China  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the  end 
of  the  Tsin  dynasty,  206  B.  C.).  Compiled  by  Ma  Suh.  It  is 
prefaced  with  long  genealogical  and  chronological  tables.  Edited 
by  Leo  Tsing.  China.  1670. 

(b)  Foreign  Translations: 

Les  Memoires  Historiques  de  Se-Ma  Ts'ien  (with  elaborate  prole- 
gomena and  critical  and  explanatory  notes).  Edouard  Cha- 
vannes.  Paris.  1895-1905. 

Shu  King  ( The  Book  of  History),  one  of  the  Chinese  Classics 
translated  by  James  Legge,  with  critical  and  exegetical  notes, 
prolegomena  and  copious  indexes.  London.  1865-95. 

The  Shu  King:  The  Chinese  historical  classic,  being  an  authentic 
record  of  the  religion,  philosophy,  customs  and  government  of  the 
Chinese  from  the  earliest  timesf  translated  from  the  ancient 
text,  with  commentary.  By  Walter  Gorn  Old.  London.  1904. 

(c)  Chinese  History  Written  by  Western  Scholars: 

Ancient  History  of  China  (to  the  end  of  the  Chou  dynasty).  By 
Friedrich  Hirth.  New  York.  1908. 

An  Outline  History  of  China.  By  Herbert  H.  Gowen.  Boston.  1913. 


2.  Law 


(a)  In  Chinese: 

Chung  Hwa  Liu  Fa  ( The  provisional  laws  of  the  Republic  of 
China , containing  the  criminal  code,  commercial  code,  civil  code, 
criminal  procedure , civil  procedure , and  the  law  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  judiciary) . Commercial  Press,  Shanghai.  Second 
edition.  Third  year  of  the  Chinese  Republic. 

Imperial  Institutes  of  the  Ch'ing  Dynasty.  This  is  an  encyclopae- 
dia of  laws,  statutes,  edicts,  and  decrees  of  the  late  Manchu 
dynasty,  which  ruled  over  China  until  the  Great  Revolution  in 
1911,  reprinted  from  the  original  set  preserved  in  the  Bureau 
for  the  Compilation  of  the  Institutes,  which  was  not  procurable 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


101 


i 

heretofore  except  by  Imperial  sanction.  The  Library  of  the 
Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Peking,  China. 

Kwan-tze  Ping  Choo  { Ewan  Chung's  work  on  legislation  with 
critical  notes  by  Chin  Ting-sin  and  Choo  Yang-tun) . Edited  by 
Choo  Yang-ho.  Part  of  The  works  of  the  ten  philosophers. 
China.  1804. 

Ta-Tsing  Hui  Tien  ( Institutes  of  the  Tsing  Dynasty).  Edited  by 
a board  of  editors  appointed  by  the  Manchu  government.  Shang- 
hai. 5th  edition.  1909. 

Ta-Tsing  Hui  Tien  Shih  Li  {Amendments  of  the  Institutes  of  the 
Tsing  Dynasty).  5th  edition.  Shanghai.  1909. 

Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee  {The  fundamental  laws  and  subordinate  statutes 
of  the  Tsing  dynasty).  China.  1826. 

Ta-Tsing  Tung  Lee  {A  Complete  code  of  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Ta-Tsing  Dynasty).  Compiled  by  an  imperial  commission,  and 
edited  by  Chin  She-Kwan.  China.  1826. 

(b)  English  Translations: 

The  Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China.  Second  revised  draft 
issued  July,  1919.  Appeared  in  The  Chinese  Social  and  Political 
Science  Review , vol.  5,  pp.  144-168,  and  pp.  220-295.  1919.  Pe- 

king, China. 

The  Provisional  Criminal  Code  of  the  Republic  of  China.  Trans- 
lated by  T.  T.  Yuen  and  Tachuen  S.  K.  Loh.  Ministry  of  Jus- 
tice, Peking,  China.  1915. 

“Translations  from  the  Lii-Li  or  General  Code  of  Laws.”  By  E. 

Jamieson.  China  Review,  vols.  8,  9 and  10. 

Ta-Tsing  Leu  Lee.  Translated  by  Sir  George  T.  Staunton.  London 
1810. 

The  Chinese  Supreme  Court  Decisions.  (First  installment  transla- 
tion relating  to  general  principles  of  civil  law  and  to  commer- 
cial law.)  Translated  by  F.  T.  Cheng.  Peking,  China.  1920. 

\ 

3.  Literature 

(a)  In  Chinese: 

Chow  Le  Choo  Soo  ( The  customary  law  and  usage  op  Chow  dynasty 
with  commentaries  and  expositions).  China.  1861. 

Chun  Tsiu,  Kung  Yang  Chuen  Choo  Soo  { The  Spring  and  Autumn 
Annals  and  Kung  Yang's  narrative  with  a commentary) . China 
1861. 

E-Le  Choo  Soo  {The  ceremonial  ritual  with  a commentary  and  ex- 
positions). China.  1861. 


102 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


Family  Instructions.  By  Yen  Chih  Pan.  Written  in  the  16th  cen- 
tury. China. 

Family  Surnames.  First  published  at  the  beginning  of  Suey 
dynasty,  960-1127  A.  D.  Recent  editions  without  date. 

Fong  Suh  Tung  ( Inquirer  into  Manners  and  Customs).  Author 
unknown.  For  a description  of  this  work  and  evidence  of  its 
authenticity  see  Wylie,  Notes  on  Chinese  Literature,  “appendix,” 
III  and  IV,  pp.  258-9. 

Heau  King  Choo  Soo  ( Canon  of  Filial  Piety  with  a commentary). 
China.  1861. 

Keen  Pun  Le  Ke  ( The  Boole  of  Rites,  with  a collection  of  com- 
ments). Compiled  by  Chin  Haou  in  1322.  China.  1859. 

Kuo  Yu  ( Narratives  of  Nations).  See  Chinese  Classics  translated 
by  James  Legge 

Li  Ki  Choo  Soo  ( The  Book  of  Rites  with  commentaries).  China. 
1861. 

Mencius  (Mang-tze) . For  English  translation  see  Legge,  Chinese 
Classics. 

Peh  Huo  Tung  (A  collection  of  essays  on  various  social  institu- 
tions). A work  of  the  first  century,  A.  D.  Edited  by  Hoo 
WTan-hwan.  For  authenticity  of  this  work  see  Wylie,  Notes  on 
Chinese  Literature,  “appendix,”  III  and  IV,  pp.  258-9. 

She  King,  Maou  She  Choo  Soo  ( Maou  Chang's  version  of  the  Book 
of  Odes,  with  a commentary  and  exposition).  China.  1861. 

Useful  Information  on  Subjects  of  Daily  Reference.  Published  by 
Chinese  Republican  Book  Publishers.  Shanghai,  China. 

Wen  Hsien  Tung  Kao,  or  San  Tung  Kao  ( Inquiry  into  the  institu- 
tions of  China).  The  most  complete  history  of  institutions  of 
the  different  dynasties.  Shanghai.  Several  editions.  Edition 
used,  1879. 

Yih  Chow  Shoo  ( Book  of  the  Chow  dynasty,  12th  to  3rd  century 
B.  C..  with  commentary) . By  Rung  Chaou  of  the  Tsin.  China. 
1786 

(b)  English  Translations: 

Chinese  Classics.  Translated  by  James  Legge,  with  critical  and 
exegetical  notes,  prolegomena  and  copious  indexes.  London. 
1865-95. 

Chinese  Reader's  Manual.  WT.  F.  Mayer.  1874,  reprinted  Shanghai, 
1910. 

Notes  on  Chinese  Literature.  A.  Wylie.  Shanghai.  1867. 

The  I-Li  or  Book  of  Etiquette  and  Ceremonial.  Translated  by  John 
Steele.  London.  1917.  2 vols. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


103 


II.  SECONDARY  SOURCES 


1.  Books  : 

Amos,  Sheldon:  The  History  and  Principles  of  Civil  Law  of  Rome; 

an  aid  to  the  study  of  scientific  and  comparative  jurisprudence. 
London.  1883. 

Bagehot,  Walter:  Physics  and  Politics.  London.  1872. 

Bentham,  Jeremy:  Bentham's  Theory  of  Legislation;  being  Prin- 

cipes  de  legislation  and  Traites  de  legislation , civile  et  penale, 
translated  and  edited  from  the  French  of  Etienne  Dumont,  by 
Charles  Milner  Atkinson.  London  and  New  York.  1914. 

Bosanquet,  Helen:  The  Family.  London  and  New  York.  1906. 

Brooke,  Elizabeth  W.:  See  Hall,  Fred  S. 

Brown,  William  Jethro:  The  Underlying  Principles  of  Modern 

Legislation.  London.  1912. 

Buisson,  Eugene:  L’homme,  la  famille  et  la  societe  consideres  dans 

leurs  rapports  avec  le  progres  moral  de  Vhomanite.  Paris.  1857. 

Calhoun,  A.  W.:  A social  history  of  the  American  family  from 

colonial  times  to  the  present.  Cleveland.  1917-19. 

Colcord,  Joanna  C.:  Broken  Homes.  Russel  Sage  Foundation. 

New  York.  1919. 

Coudert,  Frederic  Rene:  Marriage  and  divorce  laws  in  Europe ; a 

study  in  comparative  legislation.  Ph.  D.  thesis,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. 1893. 

Couling,  Samuel:  The  encyclopedia  sinica.  London.  1917. 

Dealey,  James  Quayle:  The  family  in  its  sociological  aspects. 

Boston  and  New  York.  1912. 

Devas,  Charles  Stanton:  Studies  of  family  life,  a contribution  to 

social  science.  London.  1886. 

Ellwood,  Charles  A.:  Sociology  and  Modern  Problems.  New  York. 

1910.  The  Social  Problem;  a reconstructive  analysis.  New 
York.  1920. 

Engels,  Frederich:  The  origin  of  the  family,  private  property  and 

the  state.  Translation  by  Ernest  Untermann.  Chicago.  1910. 

Eubank,  Earle  Edward:  A study  of  family  desertion;  a disserta- 

tion. % Chicago.  1916. 

Forel,  August:  The  Sex  Question;  a scientific,  psychological,  hy- 

gienic and  sociological  study.  English  adaptation  from  the  sec- 
ond German  edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  By  C.  F.  Marshall. 
New  York. 

Fulton,  John:  The  Laws  of  Marriage;  the  Hebrew  law,  the  Roman 

law.  the  law  of  the  Hew  Testament,  and  the  Canon  law  of  the 
Universal  Church.  New  York.  1883. 


104 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


Giddings,  Franklin  Henry:  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology. 

New  York.  1911.  Inductive  Sociology.  New  York.  1909. 
Principles  of  Sociology.  New  York.  1916. 

Giles,  Herbert  Allen:  A Chinese  biographical  dictionary.  London 

and  Shanghai,  1898.  A Chinese-English  dictionary,  2nd  edition, 
revised  and  enlarged.  Shanghai  and  London,  1912. 

Gillette,  John  Morris:  The  family  and  society.  Chicago.  1914. 

Giraud,  Teulon  Alexis:  Les  origines  du  mariage  et  de  famine. 

Geneve.  1884. 

Glotz,  Gustave:  La  solidarity  de  la  famille  dans  le  droit  criminel 

en  Grece.  Paris.  1904. 

Goodsell,  Willystine:  A history  of  the  family  as  a social  and  edu- 

cational institution.  New  York.  1915. 

'Groot,  J.  J.  M.  de:  The  religious  system  of  China.  Leyden.  1892, 

Hagar,  Frank  Nichols:  The  American  family,  a sociological  prob- 

lem. New  York.  1905. 

Hall,  Fred  S.  and  Elisabeth  W.  Brooke:  American  Marriage  Laws 

in  Their  Social  Aspects;  a digest.  Russel  Sage  Foundation. 
New  York.  1919. 

Hartland,  Edwin  Sidney:  Primitive  Paternity,  the  myth  of  super- 

natural birth  in  relation  to  the  history  of  the  family.  In  2 
vols. : vol.  I,  1909,  and  vol.  II,  1910.  (Publications  of  the  Folk- 
lore Society,  LXV  and  LXVII.)  London. 

Hoang,  le  P.  Pierre:  Le  Mariage  Chinois  au  Point  de  Vue  Legal. 

Shanghai.  1898. 

Holy  Bible,  American  Standard  version.  New  York.  1901. 

Howard,  George  Elliot:  The  Family  and  Marriage ; an  analytical 

syllabus.  Chicago.  A History  of  Matrimonial  Institutions  chiefly 
in  England  and  the  United  States,  with  an  introductory  analysis 
of  the  literature  and  the  theories  of  primitive  marriage  and  the 
family.  Chicago.  1904. 

La  Grasserie,  Raoul  de:  Les  principes  sociologiques  du  droit  civil. 

Paris.  1906. 

Lecky,  William  Edward  Hartpole:  Democracy  and  Liberty.  2 vols. 

London  and  New  York.  1903. 

History  of  European  Morals  from  Augustus  to  Charlemangue. 
3rd  edition,  revised.  New  York.  1877. 

Leong,  Y.  K.  and  L.  K.  Tao:  Village  and  town  life  in  China. 

London.  1915. 

Lloyd,  A.  Parllett:  A treatise  on  the  law  of  divorce  with  the 

causes  for  which  divorce  will  be  granted  in  all  the  states  of 
the  territories;  the  time  of  residence  required  in  each;  and  a 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


105 


brief  digest  of  the  leading  decisions  by  the  Appellate  Courts,  con- 
taining also  a careful  compilation  of  the  latest  divorce  statistics. 
Boston.  1887. 

Letournean,  Charles:  Evolution  of  marriage  and  of  the  family. 

London.  1891. 

Maine,  Sir  Henry  Sumner:  Ancient  Law.  New  York.  1861. 

Early  History  of  Institutions.  New  York.  1876. 

Village  Communities.  New  York.  1876. 

Maitland,  Frederic  William:  See  Pollock,  Sir  Frederick. 

McLennan,  John  Ferguson:  The  patriarchal  theory.  Compiled  and 

edited  by  Donald  McLennan.  London.  1885. 

Studies  in  Ancient  History.  London.  1876. 

Mollendorff,  P.  G.  Von:  Das  chinesische  Familienrecht.  Shanghai. 

1895. 

Montesquieu,  C.  L.  S.:  The  Spirit  of  Laws.  Translation  from 

French.  3rd  edition.  Edinburgh.  1762. 

Morgan,  Lewis  H.:  Ancient  Society;  or  Researches  in  the  lines  of 

human  progress  from  savagery  through  barbarism  to  civilizar 
tion.  New  York.  1907  edition. 

System  of  Consanguinity  of  the  Human  Family.  Smithsonian 
Contributions  to  Knowledge,  XVII.  Washington,  D.  C.  1871. 
Nelson,  William  Thomas:  A treatise  on  the  law  of  divorce  and 

annulment  of  marriage,  including  the  adjustment  of  property 
rights  upon  divorce,  the  procedure  in  suits  for  divorce ; and  the 
validity  and  extraterritorial  effects  of  decrees  of  divorce.  Chi- 
cago. 1895. 

Parson,  Mrs.  Elsie  Worthington  (Clews) : The  Family ; an  ethno- 

graphical and  historical  outline  with  descriptive  notes.  New 
York.  1906. 

Pollock,  Sir  Frederick,  and  Frederic  William  Maitland:  The  His- 

tory of  English  Law.  2nd  edition.  Cambridge,  Eng.  1911. 
Ringrose,  Hyacinthe:  Marriage  and  divorce  laws  of  the  world. 

London.  1911. 

Rivers,  W.  H.  R.:  Kinship  and  social  organization.  London. 

1914. 

Scherzer,  Ferrand:  La  puissance  paternelle  en  Chine ; Etude  de 

droit  Chinois.  Paris.  1878. 

Schuster,  E.  J.:  The  Principles  of  German  Civil  Law.  New  York. 

1907. 

Sherman,  Charles  Phineas:  Roman  law  in  the  modern  icorld. 

Boston.  1917. 

Spencer,  Herbert:  Essay  on  Education.  New  York.  1875. 

Principles  of  Sociology.  New  York.  1897. 

Starcke,  C.  N.:  The  Primitive  Family  in  Its  Origin  and  Develop- 

ment. New  York.  1889. 


106 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


Steward,  David:  The  law  of  marriage  and  divorce,  as  established 

in  England  and  the  United  States.  San  Francisco.  1887. 
Sumner,  W.  G.:  Folkways;  a study  of  the  sociological  importance 

of  usages,  manners,  customs,  mores,  and  morals.  New  edition. 
Boston.  1913. 

Tao,  L.  K.:  See  Leong,  Y.  K. 

Thwing,  Charles  Franklin:  The  family;  an  historical  and  social 

study.  New  York.  1887. 

Todd,  A.  J.:  The  primitive  family  as  an  educational  agency.  New 

York.  1913. 

Tylor,  E.  B.:  Researches  into  the  early  history  of  mankind.  New 

York.  1878. 

Wake,  C S.:  The  development  of  marriage  and  kinship.  London. 

1889. 

Wells,  Herbert  George:  Socialism  and  the  family.  London.  1908. 

Westermarck,  Edward:  The  History  of  Human  Marriage.  2nd 

edition.  London.  1894. 

2.  Abticles: 

Arlington,  J.  C.:  Criticism  on  Mollendorff’s  “The  Family  Law  of  the 

Chinese.”  China  Review , vol.  XXV,  pp.  85-87.  Hongkong,  China. 
See  Mollendorff’s  article  below. 

Bryan,  R.  T.:  “The  Divorce  Law  of  China.”  The  Chinese  Social 

and  Political  Science  Review , vol.  5,  pp.  127-132.  1919.  Peking, 

China. 

Bray,  Reginald  A.:  “The  Burden  of  the  Family.”  The  National  Re- 

view, vol.  51,  pp.  960-9.  London.  1908. 

Donnat,  L. : “Paysans  en  communaute  du  Ning-po-fou.”  Les  Ouvriers 

des  deux  mondes,  tome  IV,  no.  30,  pp.  83-158.  Paris.  1862. 

Field,  Adele  M.:  “Chinese  Marriage  Customs.”  Popular  Science 

Monthly,  vol.  XXXIV,  pp.  241-46. 

Giles,  H.  A.:  “The  Family  Names.”  Journal  of  the  Chinese 

Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  vol  21,  pp.  256,  et  seq. 
Shanghai.  1887. 

Granet,  M.:  Customes  matrimoniales  de  la  Chine  antiqu.”  T'oung 

Pao.  vol.  XIII,  pp.  517,  et  seq.  Leyden,  Holland. 

Howard,  G.  E.:  “Social  Control  of  the  Function  of  the  Family.5' 

Congress  of  Arts  and  Science.  Universal  exposition  at  St.  Louis . 
vol.  7,  pp.  699,  et  seq. 

“Changed  Ideals  and  Status  of  the  Family  and  the  Public 
Activities.”  The  Annals  of  American  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science,  vol.  58,  pp.  27,  et  seq.  1914.  Philadelphia. 
Huberich.  Charles  Henry:  “The  Paternal  Power  in  Chinese  Law.5' 

Juridical  Review,  vol.  14,  pp.  378,  et  seq.  Edinburgh. 


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107 


Jamieson,  G.:  “Cases  in  Chinese  Criminal  Law.”  (Particularly 

those  of  marriage  and  family.)  China  Review,  1882,  vol.  10, 
pp.  357,  et  seq.  “Note  on  the  Origin  of  the  Family  Names.”  China 
Review,  1881,  vol.  10,  pp.  89-93. 

“Validity  of  Chinese  Marriage.”  China  Review,  vol.  5,  p.  204. 
Jenings,  W.:  “Chinese  Matrimony  in  Poetry.”  China  Review,  vol. 

16,  pp.  99,  et  seq. 

Kingsmill,  Thos.  W.:  “Ancient  Language  and  Cult  of  the  Chows; 

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Kuo  Yun-Kuen:  “A  Critical  Exposition  of  the  Essence  of  Chinese 

Family  Law.”  The  Chinese  Social  and  Political  Science  Review, 
1916,  vol.  I,  pp.  21-36. 

Latourette,  Kenneth  Scott:  “Chinese  Historical  Studies.”  The 

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Lichtenberger,  J.  P.:  “Instability  of  the  Family.”  American 

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Lieu,  Dakuin  K.:  “Social  Transformation  of  China.”  Chinese 

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Lobingier,  Charles  Sumner:  “A  Bibliographical  Introduction  to 

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Medhust,  W.  H.:  “Marriage,  Affinity  and  Inheritance  in  China.” 

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108 


THE  CHINESE  FAMILY  SYSTEM 


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INDEX 


A 

Adoption,  61,  79;  posthumous,  83. 

Adultery,  34,  63,  65,  66,  71,  72. 

Age,  legal,  69,  79;  marriage,  59, 
60,  75. 

Alimony,  73. 

Ancestor  Worship,  19,  20,  32, 
37,  80,  83,  84,  est  seq..  90; 
Ancient,  33,  37,  38;  ceremonies 
of,  84,  et  seq.;  under  Chow 
dynasty,  38,  39. 

Ancestral  graves,  86,  et  seq.;  88. 

Ancestral  hall,  83,  85. 

Ancestral  shrine,  39,  40,  84,  85. 

Ancestral  tablets,  37,  84,  et  seq. 

Ancestral  Temple,  37-40,  42,  85- 
90;  social  functions  of,  86. 

Ancient  family,  Chinese,  26,  et 
seq.;  structure  of,  31,  et  seq. 

Animistic  lottery,  85. 

Annals  of  Bamboo  Books,  16. 

Annulment  of  marriage,  71; 

Augusti,  three,  15,  16. 

B 

Bentham,  Jeremy,  on  marriage, 
54. 

Betrothal,  20;  rites  of,  59,  63; 
of  unborn  children,  60. 

Bible,  Holy,  on  marriage,  54. 

Bigamy,  72. 

Biological  degeneracy,  41,  61 

Birth,  chi’d,  35;  primitive  con- 
ception of,  17,  et  seq. 

Board  of  Elders,  88,  89. 

Boy,  training  of,  35,  et  seq. 

Breach  of  promise,  42;  law  of, 
59,  62. 

Brother,  21,  30,  31,  37,  82,  et  spq.; 
deceased,  83;  elder,  31,  et  seq., 
33,  37,  57,  81,  82;  eldest,  37, 
48,  52,  53,  82,  et  seq.;  property 
rights  of,  52,  et  seq.;  80;  wife 
of,  37,  38. 

G 

Castration,  65. 

Ceremonies,  33,  36,  86,  93;  an- 
cestor worship,  38,  39,  86; 

childbirth,  35,  86;  marriage, 
22,  41,  et  seq.,  56,  86;  wedding, 
63,  64,  86. 

Charity,  95. 

Chastity,  43. 


Che,  emperor,  16,  17. 

Chia-chang.  21,  48,  et  seq.;  68, 
76,  82,  et  seq. 

Child,  adopted,  52,  53,  77;  duty 
of,  95;  education  of,  35,  et 
seq.,  43,  75,  81,  96;  illegitimate, 
52,  53,  77;  legal  protection  of. 
35,  62,  73,  75,  77,  78;  position 
of,  30,  et  seq.;  35,  49,  65,  76, 
79,  et  seq. 

Ch’ing,  king,  25. 

Ch'ing-ming  festival,  86. 

Chinese  family,  ancient,  11,  26- 
43;  defined,  47;  typical,  48; 
basis  of  Chinese  society,  11; 
compared  with  Western  family, 
43,  47,  50,  93,  et  seq.,  96; 
dissolution  of,  50,  et  seq.; 
general  structure  of,  11,  31,  et 
seq.,  47,  et  seq.;  head  of,  20, 
31,  32,  82,  et  seq.,  91,  94.  Also 
see  Chia-chang;  life,  48;  unit 
of  society,  47;  a socializing 
institution,  43,  96;  transforma- 
tion of,  11;  und°r  Chow  dynas- 
ty, 26,  et  seq.,  30. 

Chinese  family  system,  chang- 
ing, 11;  evolution  of,  92,  et 
seq.;  defects  of,  76,  93,  et  seq.; 
features  of  47,  et  seq.,  84;  in 
Yaou’s  time,  18,  21;  merits  of, 
94,  et  seq.;  past,  15,  et  seq.,  25, 
26,  31,  et  seq.,  43;  present,  43, 
47,  et  seq.,  49;  under  Chow 
dynasty,  25,  26-43;  underlying 
principle  of,  13. 

Chinese  society,  basis  of,  11; 
units  of,  47. 

Chow  dynasty,  25,  26,  31,  32,  39, 
41;  marriage  rules  of,  24,  39, 
40,  56,  58. 

Chow  le,  58. 

Christ,  on  marriage,  54. 

Chu  Hsi,  23. 

Chu-hun,  57. 

Chuen-heuh,  emperor,  16,  17. 

Chun  Tsiu,  41. 

Civil  Code,  Provisional,  22,  56, 
57,  65. 

Clan,  32. 

Concubine,  19,  59,  60,  66. 

Confucius,  on  antiquity,  14;  on 


110 


INDEX 


marriage,  55;  on  marriage 
customs,  43. 

Conjugal,  affection,  27,  28;  duty, 
65;  equality  70;  rights,  65-66;' 
status,  65. 

Connubial  harmony,  68. 
Consanguineous  affinity,  48. 
Consanguineous  marriage,  40,  et 
seq. 

“Continuator”,  of  father’s  line, 
31,  et  seq.  82,  rights  of,  32,  37. 

Contract,  69,  70,  72,  76;  mar- 
riage, 56,  57-59,  66,  72. 

Criminal  Code , of  the  Republic 
of  China , 43. 

Customs,  65,  67,  93;  ancient,  12, 
23,  60,  63;  marriage,  32,  39, 
41,  42,  56,  58,  60,  63,  64. 

D 

Daughter,  31,  34;  right  of  in- 
heritance of,  53,  76,  83. 

Daughters-in-law,  34,  76. 

Debt,  father’s,  81;  wife’s  66. 

Deceased  wife’s  sister,  61. 

Descend,  system  of,  33. 

Desertion,  66,  69. 

Devas,  C.  S.,  on  parental  power 
in  China,  76. 

Disinheritance,  76. 

Divorce,  34,  62,  63,  66,  67,  70,  et 
seq.  79;  alimony,  73;  defences 
against,  71;  grounds  for,  67, 
70,  71,  et  seq.;  law,  70,  et  seq.; 
principle  of,  in  China,  70;  in 
occidental  countries,  71,  74. 

Dowry,  22,  23. 

Duties,  five  cardinal,  21;  of 
members  of  the  family,  21,  93; 
thr:e  family,  21. 

E 

Ellwood,  C.  A.,  on  function  of 
family,  55;  on  transition  of 
metronymic  system  to  patro- 
nymic, 19. 

Endogamy,  61. 

Etiquette,  81. 

Etymologists,  16. 

F 

Family,  see  Chinese  family; 
occidental,  47,  50,  51,  93; 

Roman,  43,  48,  50,  93;  undei 
Chow  dynasty,  26-43. 

Family  law,  25,  77,  96;  in  the 


Provisional  Civil  Code , 22; 

origin  and  development  of,  21, 
et  seq.;  three  principles  of,  22; 
under  Chow  dynasty,  25. 

Family  life,  48,  63,  68;  under 
Chow  dynasty,  26-31. 

Family,  property,  32,  34,  37,  66, 
76,  94;  division  of,  51,  et 

seq.,  83;  estate,  67;  income, 
82,  94. 

Family  records,  33;  of  “greater 
family,”  33,  86. 

Family  relations,  39,  92,' et  seq.; 
nine  classes  of,  13,  18,  21; 
names  of,  92;  principal,  13. 

Family  relationships,  31,  32,  60, 
95,  96;  nomenclatures  of,  33; 
three  primary,  14. 

Family  shrine,  see  ancestral 
shrine. 

Family  three,  31. 

Father,  duties  and  rights  of,  31, 
33,  et  seq.,  75-79.  -in-low,  37. 

Filial  piety,  80,  90;  philosophy  of, 
79,  84,  95. 

Five  cardinal  duties,  21,  22. 

Five  punishments,  22. 

Folk-songs,  12,  26,  also  see  She 
King. 

Foster-parents,  56. 

Fu-hsi,  13,  14,  15. 

G 

Genealogy,  16,  33;  of  Shun  and 
Yaou,  16,  23;  of  Wu-ti,  16. 
Also  see  family  records. 

Girl,  education  of,  35,  36. 

Go-between,  40,  58,  59,  62; 

origin  of,  58-59. 

Government,  of  “greater  family”, 
88;  old  conception  of,  47. 

“Greater-family”,  32,  33,  85,  86, 
88-91. 

H 

Half-brothers,  and-sisters,  60. 

Han  dynasty,  law  of,  22,  77. 

Heir,  31,  see  also  “continuator”. 

History,  Chinese  ancient,  12,  15, 
18,  26,  38,  99,  et  seq.;  Canon 
or  Book  of,  see  Shu  King; 
formative  period  of  Chinese, 
39:  social.  23  26. 

Home  life,  ancient,  26,  47. 

Household,  32,  37,  40,  47,  94. 


INDEX 


111 


Husband,  legal  status  of,  48,  65, 
et  seq.;  rights  of,  68,  et  seq. 

Husband-wife,  relationship,  13, 

21,  22,  28,  et  seq.,  34,  43,  65, 
ef  seq.;  origin  of,  13,  14. 

Hwaug-ti,  16,  17,  23. 

I 

Infanticide,  law  proibiting,  78. 

Inheritance,  81;  law  of,  93. 

Instruction,  Minister  of,  21. 

Interior,  Minister  of,  21,  29. 

Junior,  duties  and  rights  of,  49, 
94,  et  seq. 

K 

Kaon-Yaou,  22. 

Khan  Hao,  on  consanguineous 
marriage,  40. 

Kindreds,  31;  nine  classes  of,  13, 
20. 

Kuh,  16. 

L 

Lawr,  divorce,  71;  family,  see 
family  law;  marriage,  23,  41, 
56.  et  seq.;  protecting  child. 
75-79. 

Law  code,  56,  57;  Criminal,  43; 
oldest,  22,  77;  also  see  Pro- 
visional Civil  Code ; T'ang  Leu, 
22;  Ta-sing  Leu  Lee . 65,  78,  91. 

Laws,  12,  22,  75,  77,  93,  100,  et 
seq.;  ancient,  65;  social  and 
ethical,  37;  of  different  dy- 
nasties, 65;  of  Manchu  regime, 

22,  60,  71,  77,  78,  91. 

Li  Ki , 60,  63. 

Literature,  Chinese,  12,  15,  18. 
101,  et  seq. 

M 

Magistrate,  court  of,  62,  66,  72, 
90. 

Manchu  regime,  22,  39;  law  of, 
see  laws. 

Marital  autority,  66,  68,  et  seq.: 
re’ationship,  64. 

Marriage,  24,  28,  30,  31,  32,  33, 
40,  54,  et  seq.,  61,  79,  93;  age 
of,  36.  41,  59,  60;  ancient 

Chinese,  39,  et  seq..  42;  annul- 
ment of,  58;  by  capture,  19; 
by  purchase,  19,  58;  ceremony 
of,  41,  et  seq.;  conceptions  of, 
54-55:  contract,  56,  57,  58,  59, 
66,  72;  law,  39,  41,  56.  57,  58; 
origin  of  Chinese,  13,  et  seq.  39; 
portion,  53,  83;  present,  19,  41, 


63;  primitive,  22,  et  seq.; 
prohibition,  23,  et  seq.  40,  et 
seq.;  requirements,  23,  24,  34, 
40,  et  seq.,  42,  56,  et  seq.;  rites, 
22,  41,  et  seq.  63;  under  Chow 
dynasty,  24,  25 

Master  of  Marriage,  see  Chu-hun. 

Matchmaker,  59,  also  see  go- 
between. 

Matrimonial  agency,  58,  59,  also 
see  go-between. 

Mei-jen.  58,  59; — p'o,  58,  59;  — 
shi,  59;  see  also  go-  between. 

Mencius,  on  marriage  require- 
ments, 24,  25. 

Metronymic  family,  14,  15,  et 
seq.,  19;  causes  of,  17,  18; 
changed  to  patronymic,  18,  et 
seq. 

Minister,  of  Crime,  22;  of  Inte- 
rior, 21,  29;  of  Instruction,  21. 

Mollendorff,  P.  G.  Von,  on  Chinese 
parental  power,  77. 

Mores,  of  Mencius’  time,  25. 

Morals,  of  antiquity,  25. 

Mother,  14,  15,  16;  rights  and 
duties  of,  48,  52,  65,  75,  76,  78. 
94; — in-law,  37. 

Mourning,  80,  81,  86;  duration 
of,  34. 

N 

Nu-Wa,  the  Augusta,  14,  16. 

O 

Ode,  36,  also  sp  She  King. 

Old  People’s  Home.  80. 

Organization,  of  Chinese  family, 
31,  47,  et  seq.,  67,  96;  of 

“greater  family”,  81-91. 

P 

Parents,  24,  28,  30,  31,  33,  et  seq., 
37,  47,  48,  51,  52,  75,  84,  95; 
duties  of,  35,  et  seq..  78,  81; 
foster — , 56;  st'p — , 56. 

Parentage,  62;  of  ancient  rulers, 
16;  primitive,  14. 

Parental  power,  28,  33,  et  seq.. 
37,  40,  48-51,  56,  75.  et  seq.; 
limitation  of,  34,  76,  et  seq.,  79, 
t°rmination  of.  78,  et  seq. 

Pater  familias , 48. 

Paternity,  primitive,  14. 

Patria  potestas.  48,  50,  77. 

Patronymic  family,  18,  21,  38; 
causes  of,  18,  19,  et  seq. 


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